Can One Orb Decide our Fate?
by Marik Female Double
Summary: The Kishin has awakened. He is after an ancient orb that can either purify madness...or expand its power across the planet. Asura finds that it is within a girl named Misao. Because of this, She and her weapon Blood are being protected by Lord Death. But can he and the DWMA protect Misao from Asura's madness? What will become of everyone's sanity? (OC's Misao- meister Blood- weapon
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Author's Note: I have been debating on whether or not to publish this story on here just because when I first started it last year, I was winging the plot. Only half of this was thought up. The rest I was making up as I went along. I've been in a writing mood and decided to put this up.

Hope you enjoy this ^_^

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The madness surrounded her, as the Kishin Asura gripped her in his arms. Tears fell endlessly down her face, praying that her father and his weapon partner Blood could save her from the awful powers of the Kishin. But, she wasn't afraid of the Kishin's madness, or the fact that he would kill her and eat her soul. She was afraid the Kishin…would take her away. She was frightened of the possibility that Asura would take her away to his kingdom of darkness and keep her there for his own; never letting her see the light of day again. It was this thought that scared her the most. This…was her nightmare.

"Misao, wake up! Misao!" She woke up to the sound of Blood's voice and his hands on her shoulders.

She woke up abruptly, gasping and looking around, trying to figure out where she was. "Blood, thank goodness it's you!" She held on to him, letting her tears and sorrow break free. Blood knew exactly what happened to her. Still, there was nothing he could do for her. "I had that dream again. The one where I was held captive by the Kishin! He…he wouldn't let me go!"

Blood took her in his arms, caressing her as much as he could to make her feel safe. "It's alright now." He assured her. "I'm here with you. You don't have to be afraid anymore." Was that really true? He was unsure of the words he spoke to her, unsure if he could protect her from everything she feared at that moment. He searched for the answer in his head, but could not find any proof to back up his statement. This made him doubtful for a while.

Misao ran downstairs to the kitchen, being lured in by the sweet smell of eggs and bacon. "Is breakfast almost ready, Blood?" she asked, smiling warmly.

"Just a few more minutes." He said smiling back at her. "Wait just a little while longer."

She stood at his side, staring at the window of the small garden they both grew together. "The garden looks beautiful." She said. Her face was calm and at peace. Looking at her warm smile made Blood forget all the bad in the world.

"You're right. We might be able to pick some of the herbs that are fully grown."

"That means we can have a delicious lunch!" She said laughing.

Blood nodded, and went back to cooking breakfast. "Okay, the food's done. Grab some plates, Misao."

Misao ran to the cupboard and grabbed two plates for her and Blood. As she sat the plates by him and let him slide the food onto the plates, Misao began to feel someone approaching. "Someone's here." She said, staring at the door waiting for a knock. She opened the door to find two men standing at the door. One had short silver hair with a giant screw through his head and stitches down his face. The other was a red-headed man with hair that stopped at his neck. "Who the hell are you?" she asked, stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

"We were sent here by Lord Death himself." The silver-haired man held up a piece of paper with a message on it. Misao scanned it for a second, then looked back at the men. "My name is Professor Stein, and this is Spirit. He's my weapon partner and one of Lord Death's instruments as well.

"What does that have to do with me?" She asked, taking a step toward Stein.

"Get back Misao." Misao turned around to see Blood standing behind her and pulling her close to him. "You said Lord Death sent you here?" he asked them.

"Yes he did." Spirit answered. "You're the one they call Blood right?"

Blood nodded. Misao was unsure of what was going on at the moment. She didn't trust Stein or Spirit. There was something not right about this situation, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Blood got in front of Misao and looked at both of the men straight in the face. "What is your business with us?"

"We want you to come with us to Death City. Lord Death wishes to speak with you." Spirit said with a calm tone.

"Why does he want to see us?" Blood asked. Since they were partners, Blood could feel the uneasiness of Misao's soul. He saw her trembling in fear and the memories coming back to her. "Calm down Misao." He told her. She looked up at him and saw his warrior face. "Everything will be okay."

"He'll explain everything to you himself." Stein's voice brought back Blood's attention. He began to have little patience for their stalling. Misao saw that in his soul and his eyes.

"Blood, we can't trust them." Misao whispered to Blood from behind. "Transform into a weapon, and I'll take care of the rest."

"Don't be reckless, Misao." He reminded her. "We don't know how strong they are, or their techniques. We'd be walking into a trap for all we know. Just stay calm."

"Are you going to come with us or not? We don't have all day." Misao stared at Stein as he adjusted his glasses and then glanced over at her. Looking at her, it seemed Stein figured out the deal with Blood. "If you're worried about your meister over there, we promise not to lay a finger on her."

His words made Blood flinch slightly. "How did you…"

"I simply read her soul. She seems to be very important to you."

"Stein I don't mean to rush you, but we need to make this quick." Spirit interrupted, stepping a few inched in front of him.

"I know." He replied, twisting the screw in his head. Misao stared at him, curious at what he was about to do. She's never seen anyone like him before. "But you should tell that to them, not me. We have to wait for their answer. Well you two…what's it going to be?"

Misao felt Stein's soul growing stronger. She was worried about what he was going to do to Blood. Without hesitation, she jumped in front of Blood and replied to them. "As long as you don't hurt Blood, we'll go with you."

"Misao." Blood was astounded at Misao's bravery; her fearless face, ready to defend anyone with her life.

"But… before we go with you, tell us what Lord Death wants with us." Misao wanted to know the truth about what was going on. It wasn't like Lord Death to suddenly call them for no reason at all. Misao was suspicious about this whole situation. Whatever he had in store for them, she didn't trust it at all.

Stein and Spirit looked at each other and then back at her. "You're a persistent girl aren't you?" Stein said. "Very well, if you really want to know… the Kishin Asura… has awakened." The name he mentioned made Misao tremble to the point where she could barely stand up anymore. She felt herself back up into Blood's arms and collapse to the ground.

"Misao, are you okay?" Blood asked, picking her up and holding her close to his body.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I…I'm okay. Don't worry about me." Blood could feel Misao still trembling. It was because of the Kishin Asura. He would never forgive him for what he did to her.

"Alright we'll go with you." Blood finally agreed to go with them. "Just let me pack. Would you mind holding her while I gather some things together?" He handed Misao over to Stein while he went back inside and packed for them.

"So tell me. What is your history with the Kishin?" Stein asked abruptly. "The way you reacted when I mentioned his name, it seems as though you know him very well." Misao remained silent. She didn't think it was any of his business how she knew the Kishin. The nightmares began pouring in her head again. His face was the only thing she saw in her mind. His evil grin, the immense power of his madness; she felt his power grab a hold of her and pull her in the darkness. She felt her breath fading away, not even able to scream. On the outside, she was screaming at the top of her lungs, squirming in Stein's arms as if a knife was slowly being pushed into her stomach. 'Let me go! Let me go!' That's what she screamed in her thoughts.

_I don't want to let you go._ Misao heard the Kishin's voice, coming from all around. She then looked ahead of her to see him levitate toward her. Once he was close enough, he grabbed hold of her arms extremely tight to the point where her arms began to bruise and then slightly bleed. _You'll stay with me… forever._ Everything went dark, and Misao couldn't feel anything in her body. She was a lifeless puppet for the Kishin to control.

"No! Stay away from me! Blood!" The shock of fear woke her up in a bed with white sheets and a cup of hot tea beside her.

"You're finally awake." Stein said, sitting on the edge of the bed, checking her forehead to see if her fever had gone down a bit. "You've cooled down. That's good. Although, your soul is still in pretty bad shape. You may need to stay here for a while." Misao stayed silent, taking a sip of the tea that he sat beside her. "You still refuse to talk I see." Misao turned away from Stein, ignoring his words. All she could think about was the awful dream she had. The pain she felt seemed real, making her confused about reality and dreams. She didn't know which one was which. Stein got up and walked over to his desk to do some work. Five minutes after he sat down, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Misao smiled when she saw Blood enter the room. "Oh it's you Blood." Stein said, watching as he walked over to Misao and sat beside her. After he sat down, Spirit came in the room and walked over to Stein. "What's the deal Spirit?" Stein asked him. "What was the conversation about?"

Spirit was silent for a while, watching Blood comfort Misao in his arms. Something was wrong with him, but Stein couldn't see it. "It was about the Kishin, and his objective." He finally answered. "It seems he's after that girl."

Stein was shocked at what he said. "After her? But why is that?"

"Blood refused to tell us. Apparently he doesn't trust us enough with that information." Blood and Misao were both mysterious to Spirit and Stein. They wanted to know what connection they had with Lord Death and the Kishin Asura. "I'm sure if we give them time, they'll tell us. For now, let's just stay out of their way."

"How are you doing, Misao?" Blood asked her, examining the wounds that suddenly appeared on her arms.

Misao was confused at her bruises. She thought it was just a dream…but then she realized that maybe it really did happen. Was it due to the Kishin's madness that filled the air around her? "I don't know." She answered him. "I'm confused right now."

"Why is that?"

She couldn't explain the reason. Everything was running through her head so quickly, that she couldn't understand any of it. "My bruises; I thought it was just in my head. The Kishin did this to me."

"The Kishin? Are you sure about that?" This made Blood more worried about Misao's condition.

"The power of his madness was overwhelming and it wouldn't let me go. He kept saying I belonged to him and nobody else." The more she talked about it, the more it frightened her. She gripped Blood tightly and buried her face in his chest as if she was trying to fuse with him so she could be safe from the Kishin. "I was terrified. I couldn't scream for help." She talked as tears fell from her face and stained Blood's white shirt. He could see the terror in her eyes, the fear of being taken by the Kishin's madness. Blood didn't know what to say. He couldn't find the right words to say to comfort her. All he could do was hold her close to him and shield her from everything like before. The sight of her in this state made him feel weak and powerless to protect her.

"I hate to interrupt," Stein walked over to them holding two small tablets while pouring more tea into her cup. "but it's time to take your medicine. This will put you to sleep, while healing the damage done to your soul."

"I'll give it to her." Blood took the tablets from Stein and gave them to Misao to take. "Here Misao, take these pills." Misao stared at the pills and was afraid of going to sleep. She closed Blood's hand and pushed it away. "Misao, you need to take them if you want to recover."

She shook her head. "I don't want them."

"But…Misao."

"It's just…I don't want to sleep." Everyone stared at her, waiting for an explanation. "All my dreams, made me afraid of closing my eyes. I don't want to fade into the darkness, just to be trapped by the Kishin!"

The room fell silent for a while as they processed her words. Blood put his other hand over hers and made her look at him. "Misao, look at me." She slowly lifted her head to reveal her tear filled face. His eyes made Misao focus only on him and let everything else fade away. "I won't let anything happen to you out here or in your dreams. I'll stay here with you while you sleep, so you can have peaceful dreams. Now take the pills and lean close to me."

Misao found peace in his words and did what he requested. She took the tablets, drank a small sip of the tea and rested her head on Blood's chest as he caressed her and acted as a blanket. She let the warmth of his body surround her and drift her off into a comfortable sleep. "Sweet dreams…Misao."

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Author's Note: Some of this fanfiction is already pre-written, but I won't upload every chapter every day. The next one will be up in about a week or so.

Please R&R ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

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In five minutes, Misao was completely knocked out and fast asleep. From the look on her face, Blood could tell that she was having a sweet dream. It made him smile as he ran his fingers through her short soft hair. "Blood, may I ask you something?" Blood looked over at Stein with a grim look. Stein just went on and asked his question. "Why won't you tell us what connection Misao has with the Kishin Asura? What are you hiding?"

Blood looked hard at Stein, thinking about the pain Misao's been through in her past, and the pain she feels now. When the Kishin attacked their village, and took Misao hostage, he could feel her fear; her soul shaking to the point where it almost destroyed itself.

"Well? Are you going to answer me?" Stein asked again.

"It's none of your business." Blood answered in a soft voice. "Our past is nothing you need to worry about."

"Well then, that puts us in a difficult position." Spirit said. Blood stared at him, wondering what he meant. "If you refuse to explain yourselves, then Lord Death has ordered us to place you under arrest." Once again, the room was silent as Blood stared at Misao while thinking about what Spirit just said. "So…does this change your mind?"

"No it doesn't." Blood said. "You can threaten us all you want. But for the sake of Misao's happiness and sanity, I will not tell you anything about us!"

"Suit yourselves." Spirit sighed, not really agreeing with Lord Death's decision. Personally, Spirit was on Blood's side in this situation. "As soon as she wakes up, I have to take you two to the prison cells in the lower levels of the school. I'll go tell Lord Death your decision." Spirit walked out the door with an uneasy look on his face. As he walked out, Blood could hear him sigh "Geez.", before closing the door completely. Blood continued staring at the door, trying to figure out Spirit's motives.

Two hours later, Blood felt Misao squirm in the bed and slowly open her eyes. She slowly began to sit up as she wiped her eyes and looked around. "Misao, how do you feel?" he asked her, placing his hand on her back and helping her sit up.

She looked up at Blood still not fully awake. "A little better actually." She answered. "I dreamt about papa. He was training me to be a meister." Blood smiled when he heard she had a peaceful dream about her father. She straightened up, took the tea that sat beside her and took a small sip of it. She didn't care that it was cold as ice. After she finished it, she was awake and full of energy again. "So, what are we going to do now?" she asked Blood, setting down the cup. Misao was confused at the concerned look on Blood's face, and waited for him to answer her. He stayed silent, thinking in his head what she'd do if he told her the decision he made for both of them. When he said it, he thought he was speaking the exact words she'd say, but now he wasn't sure if it was the right thing. "Blood, are you okay?" She shook his arm, trying to make him answer her question.

"You're both being placed under arrest." Stein answered for Blood, making Misao turn and look at him. "Because you refuse to tell us your connection with the Kishin Asura, Lord Death decided to lock you both up until you tell us what we want to know."

"Why would you do that to us?!" Misao jumped out of the bed and ran up in Stein's face. "Just because we won't tell you about our past, you think you have the right to lock us up?"

"It was Lord Death's decision. It has already been confirmed." Stein adjusted his glasses and remained calm while Misao yelled in his face. "Your partner over there said you'd rather be locked up than explain yourself." Misao turned to Blood, who sat quietly on the bed looking at his feet with a guilty look.

She walked over to him and looked at him. "Blood why would you do that?" she asked quietly, refraining from punching him in the face. "What gave you the right to make this decision for both of us? Were you even thinking about what I would want? What my decision would be?" Her voice broke out, replacing her anger with tears of frustration and confusion. She never thought Blood would ever do something like this; choose something without talking with her first.

It took some time for Blood to say something or even move. Finally, he got down to his knees and bowed at her feet. "Forgive me, Misao. I thought this was your decision. As I gave him my answer, I thought I was speaking the same words you would if you were awake." Stein watched as the two were talking and trying to come up with a solution.

"I see you're finally awake." Everyone looked to the door to see Spirit walk in with his hands in his pockets. "Well, I just explained everything to Lord Death and he has arranged a cell for you to stay in until something can be done."

"Something will be done." Misao whispered. She reached her hand out and pressed it against Blood's chest. As she applied more pressure, Blood transformed into a giant spear with an axe-like blade at the end of it. "I'll just go have a little talk with this Lord Death and make him change the charges." With some kind of ancient power, she forced Blood to transform into a weapon, even though he didn't want to.

"Misao, don't do this! You can't take on the Reaper. You're not strong enough!" Blood tried to convince her to stop, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't even revert back to a human because of her immense power.

"Shut up, Blood!" she yelled, gripping him tighter and tighter. "I can handle anything he throws at me. What he's doing to us is injustice!"

"Do you really intend to take down Lord Death?" Stein asked, staring narrowly at Misao. The strength of her soul filled the room, making Spirit flinch and tremble for just a minute. They both wondered how she was able to gain enough power to force her partner to turn into a weapon. They didn't think it was possible.

Misao chuckled. "I will if he won't change his mind."

"If you want to get to Lord Death…" In a flash of light, Spirit transformed into a black scythe and flew to Stein who grabbed it, and got into an offensive position. "…you'll have to get through us."

Misao laughed at how Stein was standing with Spirit in his hands. "You dumb-asses just don't get it do you? Obviously I'm not like other meisters out there." Stein didn't know what she meant by that, but ignored it and charged at her ready to slash her to pieces. He was stopped abruptly and thrown back against the wall, electricity running all through his body. He felt his soul being slightly crushed under the pain as he tried to figure out what just happened. "Like I said, you don't know who you're dealing with." She said in a low voice, smiling at Stein's failure. "My powers allow me to bend reality and make air hard as a rock to form a barrier. I don't even have to use Soul Resonance." She ran out of the room, leaving Stein and Spirit confused and lost.

Charging at the speed of light, Misao ran through a long hallway, sensing the Reaper's soul waves. "Misao, this is wrong!" Blood said trying to convince her to turn back and accept her fate. "You can't hold a grudge over someone just because they make a decision you're not happy with."

"I said shut up, Blood! If you hadn't opened your big mouth, I wouldn't have to do this! Let this be a lesson to you. If you don't want me to flip out like this, don't choose things for the both of us!" She leapt into the air and confronted the Reaper himself. He looked up at her with a curious look. "Reaper, prepare to die!" She slashed straight at him, barely missing him by an inch. She used the gravity to jump back a few inches away in midair, and landed gracefully on her feet.

"Well what's going on here?" he asked with a goofy look on his face. The calm look on his face made Misao very confused. "Can I help you young lady?" he asked.

"Yeah you can!" she answered straight forward, pointing the weapon at him directly. "You can drop the charges put on us!"

The Reaper tilted his head, not fully understanding her demands. "Who are you exactly?" he asked.

"My name is Misao, and this is my weapon partner Blood. You gave orders to place us under arrest because we refused to tell you anything about us! I'm here to make you drop our charges." The room fell silent as he pondered her words for a short while. Suddenly everything came back to him.

"Tell me, is your father Isame Ono?" he asked.

Misao paused and looked at the Reaper with curious and confused eyes. She lowered her weapon and began trembling. "How…how do you know my father?" she asked, waiting for an explanation.

"So my suspicions were true. You're Misao Ono! And your weapon is Blood Parker, correct?"

"Hold on a minute! How the hell do you know who we are?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you, Misao." Misao watched as Blood was able to regain control of his form, and turn back into a human. He walked over to Lord Death and stood next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Lord Death and your father were very close friends. In fact, they both fought alongside each other, trying to save you when the Kishin took you hostage. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be here." Misao was speechless at all the information she was listening to. "I'm sorry about this Lord Death. She's sort of a straight forward person."

"No worries." Lord Death clapped his hands twice and looked at Misao. "I don't blame her. After all she was only a small child when I first saw her. My, my how you look like Isame."

"Lord Death, are you okay?" Stein and Spirit ran into the death room to see that everyone was standing around. Spirit transformed back into his human form.

"Yes, I'm fine. This was all just a slight misunderstanding."

"So does this mean that we're not under arrest?" Blood asked.

"Of course it does. We're all cool here." Lord Death walked up to Misao and looked at her. "It's not your fault." He told her. "After all, you were too young to remember me at all. Spirit you remember Blood and Misao don't you?"

Spirit approached Misao and examined her. "Oh now I remember! Isame's daughter! Wow, you've grown up a lot! Just look at that body!" Misao tackled Spirit, bending his arms backwards trying to snap them off.

"I'll kill you for that you pervert!" She screamed, kicking his head in the ground at the same time. No matter how much he struggled, Spirit couldn't break free of Misao's grip. The others watched quietly from the side, afraid of Misao's terrifying face to even try to break up the fight. "Die you bastard!"

"Like I said, just like her father." Lord Death repeated, letting out a sigh of disappointment for Spirit. "Spirit shouldn't have underestimated her. She has incredible powers for someone her age."

"Her father taught her everything she knows." Blood told him. "She mastered almost all of his techniques in only two months. He started training her when she was three. A week after her mother died."

"That young?" Lord Death was surprised at this. He's never heard of a meister beginning her training at such a young age. "That's not like Isame to put his daughter through rigorous training so early."

Blood chuckled. "You won't believe this, but she was the one who wanted to start her training. She forced her father to train her. And as you know, Isame couldn't say no to her." Isame always spoiled Misao because she was his only child and wanted her to be happy.

"That explains her abilities." Stein said, reaching into his pocket and taking out a cigarette, lit it and exhaled the smoke out so it spread around him.

"I hope her barrier didn't hurt you. She sometimes forgets her level of power and ends up leaving significant damage to her opponents."

"You don't have to worry about me." He assured Blood. "It takes a lot more than a shock of electricity to do me in. As for Spirit however…" Stein looked over to see Sprit now being stomped on by a very angry Misao. Blood couldn't help but laugh at how angry she was and how much she was beating up Spirit who was crying a fountain, begging her to stop.

After teaching Spirit a lesson on how to treat a lady, Misao quietly sat next to Blood, peaking at Lord Death from the side. She bowed her head at him and forced herself to say, "Please forgive me. I was out of line and wasn't thinking."

Lord Death took a sip of tea and looked at Misao. "No need to apologize my dear. As I said before, it's not your fault you didn't remember me." Misao was surprised that he would forgive her for such a dumb reason. She slowly lifted her head and continued staring at him. "Is something else wrong?" he asked her.

Misao jerked her head away in shock and quickly looked from Lord Death to her cup of tea. "No, nothing's wrong!" she exclaimed, cheeks flushing bright red.

Blood smiled at her cute shy face and then went back to the real issue at hand. "Lord Death, answer me something. Why were you going to lock us up for not explaining ourselves about the Kishin? What does he have to do with this?"

"Well at first it was because I thought you two were total strangers involved with the Kishin. Once I heard your names, it became clear. But the real truth is…the Kishin Asura has awakened." Misao flinched at the sound of Asura's name and the fact that he was back.

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Please R&R ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

This chapter is shorter than the others. Not a lot goes on. Enjoy anyway.

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The room fell silent as if the air around them thickened and suffocated them, making it hard for them to murmur a single word. Misao felt her breathing slow down every passing minute, seeing visions from the past of the Kishin wrapping his hands around her and threatening her life. "How was he able to wake up after all these years?" Blood asked, not even knowing what to do to calm Misao down. He saw the terrified look in her eyes and the way her body trembled uncontrollably. He was afraid to even touch her and make her shake even more.

"It was because of Medusa and her minions." Lord Death answered. "She used the power of the black blood to revive him. Apparently her goal was to reawaken him and get him to join her."

"But he refused, right?"

"Yes. He ended up killing them as a response to her."

"What about Medusa?" Blood asked.

"Don't worry about her." Lord Death tried to sound as reassuring as he could for Misao's sake, but saw it wasn't working. He just continued on. "We were able to take care of her once and for all. It took some time, but we got rid of her for good."

"So, do you know where the Kishin is hiding?" Blood asked, trying to keep a cool head and not lose his temper. He swore to get revenge on Asura for all the pain and suffering he put Misao through; including the death of her father.

Lord Death took another long sip of tea, hesitant to answer Blood's question. But he knew if he didn't answer him quickly, Blood would go out and look for the Kishin himself and put his life in danger for Misao. He finally lowered his cup and answered him. "Unfortunately we don't. We can't seem to find any trace of him. But his madness is beginning to spread all over the world. If we don't find him soon, I'm afraid of the consequences." Misao seemed to be the only one who was frightened at this moment. She kept hoping that this was all a dream, and that she'd wake up in her bed, safe and sound. But no matter how much she wished for it, it wasn't a dream. Everything that was happening was real. "So now that I have explained myself, it's time for you to explain." Lord Death looked deeply at Blood, hoping he would reveal the truth now that they had put their differences aside.

"It's hard for me to talk about it." He looked at Misao when he said that. He saw that she was in utter shock and wasn't even moving. Her body completely froze up, not even twitching.

"I see, so that's why." Lord Death finally understood what was going on. Misao was still in shock over what happened all those years ago.

"He'll come for me." Misao was finally able to talk in a very low voice. The moment she muttered those words, her body began shaking again. "It's me he's after. He won't stop until he finds me."

"How do you know for sure he's after you?" Stein asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Because he sends me visions. He enters my dreams and talks to me; saying I belong to him, and he'll never let me go." She reached over and grabbed Blood, holding him tight, smothering her face in his chest again. "He'll come for me. He'll find me no matter where I go." Blood held onto her, rubbing her back.

"It's alright, Misao." He reassured her. "I promise the Kishin will not come after you. There's no way I'll ever let him put a single hand on you." Misao's tears triggered something inside of Blood. He wanted to get revenge on the Kishin Asura even more than before. Nothing was going to stand in his way to destroy the Kishin once and for all.

"There's no need for you to be afraid." Lord Death assured them. "I promise as long as you're within the DWMA, the Kishin will not be coming after you." Misao still wasn't fully convinced with Lord Death's words. She had a deep feeling that the Kishin would find a way to infiltrate death city and take her away. "Now my dear, you still need to rest. Your soul still hasn't recovered yet. Stein, would you mind taking her back to the infirmary?"

"It's not a problem. Come on, Misao." Stein offered her his hand to help her up.

Misao looked up at Stein, and then at Blood. Blood nodded his head in agreement with Lord Death. "It's okay, Misao. Go and rest up. I'll be there in a little while to check on you." With those words, Misao nodded back at him and followed Stein out of the death room and back to the infirmary. She crawled back into bed and pulled the blankets over her and traveled through the depths of her inner mind. She didn't really trust the DWMA nor their methods. 'There's no way they can beat a Kishin like Asura.' She thought to herself. 'They should've kept a closer eye on him when he was sealed away.'

"Miss Misao, if it's okay, I need to give you your medicine." She heard Stein call out. Misao was hesitant at first, but decided to come out of hiding and take the medicine. She came out from under the covers and sat up in the bed. Stein sat beside her, and poured some medicine into a small spoon and held it to her mouth. "Open wide, and say ah."

"I'm not a child! So don't treat me like one!"

"My apologies." Stein chuckled. "Here, you have to drink it all."

Misao glared at him as she took the medicine and hesitantly swallowed every drop of it. After she did, Stein had a glass of water ready for her. She took it from him without saying a word and chugged half the glass. "When did it happen?" she asked in a low voice.

"When did what happen?" Stein looked at her with a puzzled look.

"When did Asura escape?" Misao repeated her question with a harsher tone.

Stein adjusted his glasses. "It happened about a month ago. Like we said, Medusa's minions were to blame for it. We tried to stop them, but they slipped by us."

"If you're a great meister, then why did you let Medusa's minions awaken the Kishin? You could've slashed them and ended them."

"Well I wasn't the one who took on that mission." He explained, despite Misao's evil glare. "There were three meisters and their weapons who took on the mission. The only reason Medusa's plan worked was because the chamber he was locked up in plays tricks on intruders."

"So you sent inexperienced meisters and weapons to stop the Kishin Asura from resurrecting? Just as I thought: you people really are a bunch of morons." Misao let out a big sigh, and flipped her hair out of her face. "Have you even tried investigating the whereabouts of the Kishin?"

"We've tried, but haven't gotten any leads." Stein answered, taking the cup from her and setting on his desk. "But we haven't given up. There are other Death Scythes out there searching high and low for him."

Misao laid her head on the pillow and didn't ask any more questions. "I wonder if he's thinking about me now." She mumbled to herself, staring at the ceiling.

"How are you feeling, Misao?" Misao looked up to see Blood walk in the room and smile at her.

She quickly sat up and looked at him. "I'm feeling fine. Professor Stein gave me some medicine, so I'll be okay."

"Lord Death decided that starting tomorrow we will be students of the DWMA." Blood spoke out plain and simple. Misao looked at him with disapproval.

"Why do I have to become a student?" she asked, crossing her arms and staring at her lap. "We're stronger than everyone here, so why do I have to attend classes that I don't need?"

"It's so we can have constant surveillance and be kept safe." Blood explained, taking Misao's hand and raising her chin so she was looking at him. "Please do this for me. I promise to stay by your side no matter what."

Misao was silent, thinking about what she'd have to do. She wasn't sure that she could trust the instructors at the DWMA to protect her from the Kishin. However, she saw there was no other choice around this. "Okay I'll do it." She sighed at Blood.

"Excellent, you'll be in my class." Stein said as he washed out the spoon he used to give Misao her medicine. Misao stared at him with a grim look, then looked back at Blood as she got out of bed.

"Come on Blood. Let's go." Misao said as she walked out of the room. As she opened the door, she was stopped by Spirit who was blocking the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a smug look on his face.

Misao gave him the same look, and stared him down. "I don't have to tell you my business." She told him. "Now out of my way. Blood, I said come on."

"Misao where are we going?" Blood asked, curious of what was going on inside her mind.

She sighed in annoyance of everyone's stalling and decided to confess her actions. "If you must know, we're going to find a place to live. If we're going to stay in this city, we need to find a home and fit in with the rest of the people here." She looked back at Blood and saw him stare at her with a strange expression of doubt.

"Lord Death has already arranged a place for you two to stay." Stein explained, standing next to Blood. "For now, you need to spend the night here so I can monitor you. Is that alright?"

Misao looked around the room and saw everyone waiting for her answer. When she looked over at Blood, she immediately agreed to the terms. "Fine I'll do it." She huffed as she broke her gaze with Blood. "It's late, I'm going to sleep." Misao turned over on her side, pulled the covers over her and laid down to sleep.

"Very well then." Stein said, walking out the door. "I'll check your condition first thing in the morning. Sweet dreams."

Once everyone left, Blood sat on the edge of the bed and watched Misao as she slept. "Blood, are you sure we can trust the DWMA to keep us safe?" she asked.

Blood took a breath while petting her head. "There's nothing to worry about, Misao." He assured her. "Your father trusted Lord Death with his life when he was alive. He wouldn't let us down. Have faith in him."

"I'm not sure if I can put my faith in anyone anymore." Misao huffed. Because of her current situation, Misao found it hard to trust people now. She knew what fate had in store for her. She was going to be taken by Asura in the very near future. However…what happens after that…was a complete mystery to her.

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Just a note to everyone, Misao is meant to come out as a little bitchy, but she ends up getting better. If you want to learn more about her, read on! The next chapter will make up for the shortness of this chapter.

Please R&R


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Author's Note: I was going to upload this earlier, but I was hanging out with friends and lost track of time lolz ^w^ Anyway...sorry about that and enjoy!

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In her dream, Misao was caught in the Kishin's grip, staring directly at him. Her breath slowed down while her heart pounded faster and faster. She could feel the madness consuming her and devouring every bit of her sanity.

"Simply delicious." Asura spoke, pulling her closer to him. "The taste and smell of your fear is very satisfying. It makes me want to keep you for all eternity."

Misao tried to say something but when she began to speak, nothing came out. 'My voice is gone.' She thought. 'I can't even scream.' No matter how hard she tried, Misao couldn't escape Asura's glare, nor could she scream for help. Soon her body completely froze up.

Asura laughed. "What's the matter? Can't speak? What a shame." Asura gripped her chin and licked her cheek with lust. "You're going to stay here with me…forever."

'No, this isn't happening. This isn't real. It's a dream…no…this is a nightmare. I have to wake up. Just open your eyes. Wake up. Hurry. WAKE UP!"

Misao opened her eyes and quickly sat up, looking around the room.

"Oh good morning." Misao looked up to see Stein working at his desk. "I was wondering when you'd wake up. You were yelling in your sleep."

Looking at him, Misao realized Blood was gone. "Where's Blood?" she asked, removing the sheets from over her.

"Don't worry, he's fine. He went to get you something to eat. He should be back in a few minutes. In the meantime, here's some tea." Stein walked over and handed Misao a small cup of tea. "I'll do a quick check up on you in a bit here." Misao stared at Stein as he walked back over to his desk and continued writing things down on several pieces of paper. Her gaze went from Stein to the cup of tea. She took a small sip of it and then stared into it. 'That horrible nightmare…it felt so real.' She thought to herself. 'Maybe that really is my fate; to be an energy source for the Kishin. If it is…then…' Her thoughts were interrupted when Blood came through the door with a tray of food in his hand and a smile on his face.

"It's about time you woke up, sleepy head." He said, setting the tray between him and Misao. "I made you some eggs and bacon."

"Before she eats, I'd like to begin her checkup." Stein said, preparing himself. "It won't take long."

"Of course. Go right ahead." Blood agreed, moving the tray.

"Oaky Misao, stand up for me and just relax."

Misao did as Stein had instructed. She stood up with both hands down to her side, and took several deep breaths. After checking her heart rate, Stein then checked her flexibility by moving her arm back and forth to see how far they'd stretch. Finally he took her temperature. "You've recovered remarkably. You'll be able to start classes today. You can follow me when it's time."

After he was finished, she sat back on the bed and began eating her breakfast. "Are you okay Misao? You're awfully quiet." Blood asked her.

She swallowed her food, then just sat quietly. "I'm uh, just a little nervous about starting classes." She lied. She hated hiding the truth from Blood, but she didn't want him worrying about her.

Blood sighed because he could tell there was something wrong with Misao. "Professor Stein, would you give us a few minutes alone?" he asked, forcing a smile and pretending everything was okay.

"Of course. I have to run some quick errands anyway." Stein chuckled. "I'll be back just before the bell rings for class to start." He left the room and shut the door behind him.

Once he was gone, Blood turned back to Misao and took her by the hand. "Now tell me, Misao. What is wrong with you?"

Misao tried not to look Blood in the eyes, but his gaze was too strong. "I had another dream about the Kishin." She admitted. "He actually had a hold of me, which caused the madness to pour into me. I tried to scream, but my voice was gone." After she explained her dream, Misao grabbed Blood by the arm and held it tight. "I thought I wouldn't wake up. I thought that I was fated to be his prisoner forever."

"Don't think that Misao." Blood told her, petting her head and wiping her tears away. "Haven't I told you a million times that I would always stay by your side?" Misao stared at him and smiled. Blood smiled back at her. "You do trust me don't you?"

"With all my soul." Misao answered. "I will always trust you."

"Now let's get you ready for class." Blood did a quick fix on Misao's hair and brought her a change of clothes. Once she was finished dressing, Stein came back in the room to check back on things. "Is it time?" Blood asked.

"Yes." He answered. "Just follow me this way." Stein walked back out of the room with Misao and Blood right behind him. "There's no need for you to be nervous." Stein told Misao. She looked up with a surprised face. "I know a few students in the class who you'll get along with just fine." He flashed a smile as a promise to her. Misao turned away from it and just continued on in silence. Not getting a response from her, Stein turned back forward and opened the door to the classroom. "Alright class, settle down." He announced to the students. "Before we start class, I'm happy to announce that we have two new students that will be joining us. Please welcome meister Misao Ono and her weapon partner, Blood Parker."

Blood and Misao stood side by side staring at the faces of everyone in the room. "It's nice to meet all of you." Misao bowed and greeted the class.

"We hope to make plenty of friends." Blood greeted right after Misao. He then followed Misao to a few empty seats in the fifth row and took their seats.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Misao looked next to her to see a smiling girl with blonde pig tails wearing a long black trench coat. "My name's Maka. This is my partner Soul." Maka pointed to a boy with spikey white hair and a blank face. "Soul, say hi." Maka whispered to him.

Soul looked over at Misao and Blood. "What's up? Glad to have you in our class."

Misao stared at them and then turned her attention back to Dr. Stein. Since she wasn't going to say anything, Blood greeted them for her. "Glad to be here. I hope we can be friends." He said.

"Same here." Maka smiled.

"Okay class, today we'll be practicing connecting your souls with your partner." Stein announced. "Why don't we start with…Misao and Blood?" Misao glanced at Stein, sending a threat through eye contact. "Don't be shy, come on down." Misao exhaled and followed Blood to stand in the center of the class. "Now for your opponent. Let's see…"

"I'll volunteer!" Misao looked up to see a boy with very spikey light blue hair and a star on his shoulder. He yelled "Yahoo!" as he and a black-haired woman jumped from their seats and in front of Misao. "I will be your opponent! No one steals my spotlight!"

"And…who are you?" Misao asked, annoyed by the boys voice.

He laughed hysterically and spoke his name. "I'm the one and only Black Star! With my weapon partner Tsubaki, I will be the one to surpass God! Then everyone will look up to me, and I will be undefeated!"

Misao tackled Black Starand sent him flying against the wall. "Annoying little brat. I thought he'd never shut up." She said as she dusted off her hands.

"He was annoying…but that wasn't exactly the right way to handle it." Blood whispered in Misao's ear.

"Whatever." She groaned. "He deserved it." After Misao said that, Black Star jumped from the wall and landed right in front of Misao and Blood again.

"How dare you do that to the great Black Star?! You'll pay!"

"Okay Black Star, calm down." Stein walked in between Misao and Black Star, spreading them apart from each other. "Now, I want you two to pour your soul energy into your weapons, and try to knock your opponent off balance. Now, begin the exercise."

"Tsubaki, kusarigama mode." Black Star ordered.

"Right." Tsubaki transformed into two sickles with a chain connecting them.

"A ninja weapon. I'm impressed; for once." Misao chuckled. "Let's go Blood."

"As you wish." Blood formed into his spear weapon mode and flew into Misao's hands. "Let's do this, Misao."

Misao nodded. "We'll show them what we're made of."

"Now both meisters will pour their soul energy into their weapons, then charge head on. If done correctly, this technique will cause your opponent to fly across the room and take critical damage. Whenever you're ready."

Misao closed her eyes and concentrated every ounce of her energy and tranferred it to Blood, causing him to glow a neon blue color. Everyone was speechless at the high level of energy Misao had. "Ready when you are, Black Star."

Black Star chuckled. "Good. I'll make you pay for stealing my spotlight. Are you ready Tsubaki?"

"Ready to go, Black Star." She answered.

"Alright then. Let's do this." He began the attack and charged head on straight for Misao. The second he moved, Misao attacked as well. As they got closer to each other, Misao felt his soul wavelength. It was flowing out of control. She knew he wasn't concentrating; he was attacking blindly without thinking. Then…they made contact. The massive energy wave vibrated throughout the entire room, making the other students tremble slightly.

Once the vibes vanished, everyone looked down to see Misao still standing, and Black Star inside a huge pot hole in the ground five inches away from her feet. After it was over, Blood transformed back too his human form. "Do you think he's alright?" he asked.

"He'll be fine." She said, staring as Tsubaki shook Black Star to wake him up. "The energy of his soul backfired into him, which created a shockwavve into his body and ended in him being slammed into the ground with such force."

"I'm…not done yet." Everyone looked to see Black Star awake with some energy left in him. "Come on, let's continure our match."

"Uhh Black Star, you really need to preserve your strength." Tsubaki begged him as she helped him stand up on his feet. "Besides this was only a demonstration."

"Tsubaki is right. Misao is the victor here. Now go back to your seats please." Stein got the attention of the class and waited as Misao and Blood went back to their seats and quietly sat down. Once Black Star and Tsubaki were seated, the lesson resumed. Misao blocked everything out of her head so she could focus on Stein's teachings and took hard notes on every word he said.

Once the bell rang, Misao rushed out of the room to stare at the city from the balcony of the school. Memories of her childhood flashed in front of her eyes as she thought about the innocent people who weren't aware of Asura's awakening. "Misao, I brought you some water." Misao looked over her shoulder to see Blood holding out a bottle of ice cold water.

Misao stared at it for five minutes before taking the bottle, opening it and drinking a small sip of it. "This place is a waste of time." She exhaled. "These meisters and demon weapons don't know what they're doing. It's like being back in kindergarden."

"I heard Lord Death's son is here as well. He's just as strong as we are, if not stronger."

"What do I care? He's a Grim Reaper, yet he chose to enroll in his father's academy." In the middle of their conversation, Misao and Blood turned around to see Maka standing there with three riceballs in her hands.

"Hello Maka, what are you doing here?" Blood asked.

"Well I brought these riceballs with me cause I thought I'd eat all of them on my way to school. I made too much, so… consider this as a welcome gift." She extended the riceballs out to them with a big smile.

"Thanks Maka, those look great. Right Misao?"

Misao remained silent as she walked past Maka and went somewhere where she could be alone, and away from people. 'Waste of my time.' She thought to herself over and over again.

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Please R&R ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

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During lunch, Misao and Blood sat out looking at Death City from a bird's eye view. Misao was enjoying some tuna rolls, pork buns and some fish while Blood had some miso soup. In the middle of their lunch, Spirit approached them. "So here you two are." They both turned around and stared at him. "Lord Death wishes to see you. He has an assignment for the two of you." Once Misao heard that, she threw her food away and headed for the Death Room. Blood followed, finishing the rest of his soup.

"What do you think our assignment is?" she asked Blood.

Blood saw that Misao had a blank look on her face. But he could see that inside, she was excited to finally go out and do some damage. He just sat back, smiled and answered her question. "Whatever it is, I'll bet it'll be fun for you."

"I guess so." They finally arrived to the Death Room, where Lord Death was waiting for them.

"Hello there Misao and Blood. How are you?" Lord death waved at Misao and Blood as they approached him and stood in front of him.

"We're doing fine, sir." Blood answered. "Spirit said you had an assignment for us."

"Of course, allow me to explain." He turned to the mirror behind him and let a vision of a small village appear in the reflection. "This village is known as Hilltop Town because of its magnificent scenery. There's a hill that has a beautiful view of the village that makes it look like a map. Anyway, something has happened within the seems that has caused the villagers to hide inside of their homes."

"Any idea what's causing them to stay secluded in their homes?" Misao asked.

"Actually, I don't." Lord Death answered. "That's precisely why I'm sending you two to investigate and stop whatever entity that has plagued this town."

"We won't let you down, sir." Blood said.

Misao began to walk away. "Come on Blood. Let's head out now." Blood followed behind her and left Death City.

When they arrived to Hilltop Town, the entire town was absolutely deserted. Misao peeked through the windows of several empty shops. "It's more deserted than I thought." Misao said, picking up a lost rag doll covered in dirt and twigs.

"Then it'll be hard to get any information from anyone." Blood said.

"No it won't. Check it out." Misao pointed straight across to an old man running for his life, sweating and panting in fear. She got in his way, stopped him and grabbed him by the collar. "Hey old man, what's going on in this place? Why does this town look like a hell hole?"

"P-Please let me go! I have to get out of here!" the old man begged.

"Excuse me, but what are you running from?" Blood asked.

"From…him!" They all looked up to see a man falling from the sky, and landing a few feet in front of them.

The man struggled to get out of Misao's grip and ran away as fast as he could. Blood ran straight to her side. "Are you the one steeling the souls of these villagers!?" she asked, pointing at him.

The man grinned from ear to ear and began chuckling. "Don't tell me, you two are from the DWMA." He said. "Then this won't be that fun at all."

'Something's off about this guy.' Misao thought to herself as she observed the man. "Tell me who you are!" she demanded.

The man laughed out loud, and put on a creepy smile. "Where are my manners? The name's Giriko. I have the pleasure of taking you to my master."

"Master?" Misao didn't know what he meant by that.

Before she could ask, Blood spoke out first. "What master are you referring to?!"

In the blink of an eye, Giriko rushed Misao and Blood, attempted to attack them. But Blood reacted, quickly grabbing Misao and jumping out of the way just in time. "Wait a minute. He's…a weapon!" Misao exclaimed. They looked up and stared at the blades that were coming out of his legs. "He's a chainsaw!"

"You're a weapon with no meister?" Blood asked, setting Misao down, but staying very close to her.

Giriko laughed hysterically. "Boy, nothing gets by you. You got it, I'm a weapon. I get to call the shots. In my opinion, a meister will only hold you back! Weapons are the ones with the true power. Why don't you try it for yourself? You'll unlock powers you never knew you had!"

"Shut up!" Misao exclaimed, stepping forward. "I don't want to hear another word come from your mouth! A meister and weapon stand by each other in battles! They rely on one another for power and strength. If you think meisters are weak human beings, then you've got a lot to learn! Blood, transform now!"

"Right!" Blood transformed into a spear and flew into Misao's hands. "Let's take him down!" Misao gripped Blood tightly in her hands and charged straight at Giriko, who stood there with a smug look on his face.

"Huh, looks like this is gonna be fun after all! Show me what ya got, girlie!" Giriko let the blades around his legs and feet spin rapidly and charged at Misao.

"You're gonna be sorry you ever messed with me." Misao jumped in the air the moment Giriko got close to her. She managed to get behind him and attack him from behind. He took on minimal damage and got right back up, taking the fight to the sky. Misao blocked his endless razor kicks and finally managed to push him back and send him hurling towards the ground. "Is that all you've got?" she chuckled.

"Don't let your guard down, Misao! He's stronger than he looks." Blood warned her.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get this done, then got back to the academy to grab some food."

"You're gonna have to hit harder than that!" Giriko got back on his feet and wiped the dust from his face. "I actually have to congratulate you. No one's ever been able to lay a single scratch on me. You're the first!" He rushed at Misao again with incredible speed. Misao tried to make a blow at him, but he was too fast. Giriko was able to grab Misao by the neck, and throw her into a building with great force.

"Misao, are you okay?" Blood asked.

Misao coughed up a few drops of blood before answering. "Yeah, I'm still in one piece." She wheezed. "This guy is tougher than he looks. But we can't give up." Misao staggered back on her feet, and tried to keep her balance.

"Giriko, that's enough!" A voice echoed from the skies. They all looked up to see a dark-skinned man; about two shades darker than Misao, descend.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Giriko asked. "I called dibs on fighting this battle!"

"The master merely sent me to retrieve you. We've collected all the souls from this town, so our work is done for now."

Misao could hear Giriko growl out of pure anger as he retreated without a word.

After he did, Misao stepped up and addressed the dark-skinned man. "Wait a minute! Just who are you people, and who is this master you keep talking about?"

The man chuckled as he stared at Misao up and down. "You'll know everything soon enough. I'm not allowed to spoil the surprise." With those words, he retreated faster and more swiftly than Giriko.

Blood changed back to his human form. "I have a bad feeling about this." He said.

"Me too. To make things worse, all the souls of this innocent town were taken because of us. We couldn't save them."

Once they returned to DWMA, Blood reported their mission to Lord Death while Misao stayed locked up in her room, letting the guilt grow inside her, manifest and eat her away.

"I see, so you believe this man was stalling you until his partner gathered all of the human souls in the village?" Lord Death asked.

"Yes sir." Blood answered. "I also believe that they work for a higher power. They mentioned something about reporting back to their master."

"This could be very serious, Lord Death." Spirit said, a little uneasy with Blood's report.

"I'm more worried about this so called 'master'." Stein added. "I wonder who their master is."

"That's what I want to know." Blood said. "I'm also concerned about Misao. She hasn't left her room since we got back. She feels like she let many people down. I feel the same way."

"It's not your fault." Lord Death assured him. "This just means that we must prepare for the worst, and be ready for anything. For now, Blood, you should look after Misao. If she doubts herself, you should be there to cheer her up."

"Thank you, Lord Death. I'll go now." Blood walked out of the Death Room, head filled with many questions that also were connected with the fate of Misao. He became afraid of what was going to happen to her, and if he would be able to gather the strength he needed to protect her. "Misao, it's me. How are you feeling?" He closed the door behind him and sat next to her on the bed, staring at Misao as she buried her face in her pillow and sobbed silently.

"We let…all those people die." She whimpered softly. "It's the same as our village. I wasn't strong enough to protect everyone, when the Kishin decided to destroy it."

Blood lifted her up and held her in his arms to comfort her. "What happened back then was not your fault." He assured her. "No one ever blamed you. They were happy at the fact that you came to their rescue and fought your hardest to save them."

"You don't get it, Blood!" Misao pushed away from Blood and scooted away from him to where her back hit the wall. "Millions of people were killed because I was weak! I vowed I would never let anything like that happen ever again. That's why we're here." Blood sat on the bed, watching Misao fall apart in front of his eyes and letting the past return to her and eat her from the inside. This was another thing the Kishin was going to pay for. Blood swore this on his very life. "Blood, I'm sorry." Misao apologized softly. "I didn't mean to take my anger out on you. Everything that's going on right now is just…too much for me to handle. I can't deal with this by myself."

Blood lifted her chin up and looked right into her eyes. "You know you'll never be alone, as long as I am her by your side." Misao lost herself in Blood's eyes and began seeing how her emotions were hurting him more than anything else. "As your weapon partner and your knight," he got off the bed, knelt down on the floor and bowed to Misao. "I swear to be by your side till the very end, and give my life to protect yours."

"Blood…thank you." Misao stood up in front of him, and commanded him to rise from the ground. "I'll make a promise too; a promise to fight with everything I have and never give up no matter the situation."

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Author's Note: I don't know if anyone got this vibe as they read it, but as I was writing this chapter, by the time I stopped and read back at it, I realized that I had made Misao a complete bitch lolz. But looking through other chapters after this, I figured I'd make it part of her personality since she's going through a rough time and has several issues.

Again, it might just be me ^^

Please R & R ^_^


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Author's Note: I'm sincerely sorry I took so long publishing this chapter. This year is ending for me and I've been studying my ass off for finals and getting homework done. Hope you enjoy this ^^;

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Later that day, Blood went to Stein and got some medicine and bandages for Misao. After he had patched her up, he calmed her spirits with the sound of his flute. When Misao was younger, he'd play her a soothing lullaby that would put her right to sleep. Now, she requested it whenever she wanted to meditate and let go of her emotions. "Blood, I'm getting hungry. Can we go out and get something?" she asked.

"Actually, we'll be eating dinner with some very good friends of mine." He said, seeming somewhat suspicious. "We should get going right now before we're late." Misao followed Blood out the door with no questions asked. She trusted Blood, and went along with whatever he had planned. They finally arrived at a small apartment complex. "Here we are." He said as he knocked on the door.

"Who lives here, Blood?" She asked.

The door opened to reveal a purple-haired woman dressed in a very small black dress with large breasts. "Oh, you must be Misao and Blood! It's nice to finally meet you! And if you don't mind me saying, you're pretty sexy Blood."

The second she said that, Misao tackled Blood and began to strangle him in the middle of the street. "Who the hell is this, Blood!? Is she the 'good friend' you were referring to!? Huh? When did you meet her!? Answer me now you bastard!"

"She's not the…one I…meant." He managed to wheeze out.

"Oh really! Then how in the hell does she know your name!?" She began to squeeze his throat harder, making it more difficult for Blood to breathe, let alone get a single word out.

"I think there's been a bit of confusion." The woman intervened.

Misao turned her attention straight to her, finally letting Blood go. "As for you, I don't know how the hell you know Blood, but if I ever see you around him again, you'll be sorry you ever met me!"

"Misao, Blood, you guys made it." Misao froze the moment she saw Maka and Soul walk out of the apartment. They turned their attention from Misao to the woman. "Blaire, why didn't you invite them in?" Maka asked her.

"Well I tried, but apparently this girl got the wrong idea about me and Blood."

"Sorry about this, Misao." Maka apologized. "I told Blaire all about you two, and told her you guys were coming over for dinner."

"Why didn't you tell me this before, Blood?" Misao exclaimed in anger.

"Because you were choking the life out of me!" he yelled back.

After all the tension calmed down, Misao and Blood made themselves comfortable in the living room, where there were others. The one Misao noticed right off the bat was Black Star, who was sitting on top of the coffee table, Indian style. "Oh hello there Misao and Blood. Glad you could make it." Black Star's weapon partner, Tsubaki was the first to greet them as they took a seat.

"Nice to see you too, Tsubaki, and Black Star." Blood greeted back.

"Uhh, yeah. What's up?" Misao hesitated. She then looked over at a black-haired boy with three rows of white stripes on the left side of his head. He was sitting in between two girls who looked like they were sisters. One had long dirty blonde hair and the other had short blonde hair. "I don't think we've met you three before." Misao pointed out.

"Well, now we get to properly meet. My name is Death the Kid. I'm the son of the Grim Reaper."

"Are you serious?" she asked, looking shocked. "You're Lord Death's son?"

"That's right. And these are my weapon partners, Liz and Patty."

"Nice to meet you guys." Liz greeted.

"Hi new friends!" Patty was more energetic than a pre-schooler.

"Thanks for having us." Misao said. "When do we get to eat?"

"It'll be ready in just a minute." Maka answered, walking into the kitchen. "I'll check on it now."

The moment Misao took a seat, she began thinking about how this gathering of friends and loved ones was just like how her life was like when her father was alive. She suddenly felt a strong connection with all of them. Misao didn't say a word the entire time; she just sat back and listened to their conversation and their cheerful laughter. There were times where she laughed along with them, but did it quietly so they wouldn't notice her. 'These feelings that are going through me.' She thought to herself. 'It's been so long since I've had them. It feels…warm and comforting.'

In the middle of their conversation, Maka came out of the kitchen and announced, "Hey everyone, dinner's ready!"

"It's about time!" Black Star exclaimed, jumping up. Everyone followed along into the dining room and took at seat. Misao and Blood were the last two to sit down. Misao sat in between Blood and Soul.

"So…what are we having?" Misao asked, trying hard to fit in and be a part of the group.

"Maka makes the best pasta in Death City." Soul said, drooling from the amazing smell of pasta coming from the kitchen.

"Misao, sorry about this, but would you mind helping me serve the pasta?" Maka asked.

Misao was hesitant for a while, but eventually got up and joined Maka in the kitchen. Before she stepped into the kitchen, she looked back at Blood who winked at her and gestured her to go on in the kitchen. Once there, Misao just stood in the middle, waiting for instructions. "So…what do you want me to get?" she asked.

"Before that, Blood asked me to talk to you." Maka confessed, leaning against the counter. "He's worried about you."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "How much did he tell you about me?"

"Not much. He just said that you're going through some tough issues, and that he's afraid that you'll do something reckless because you think about them too much."

"You know, you shouldn't talk about things you know nothing about." Misao scoffed.

"I understand that but I just want to give you some friendly advice." Maka walked up to Misao and took her by the hand, smiling. "It's true I don't know or understand the things you're going through, but either way it's important for you to let people in rather than shun them and deal with problems on your own. If you ever get into trouble or feel sad about something, you'll have people beside you to back you up."

It was Maka's words that got Misao thinking that she should open herself to more friends. "It's not that I don't want to make friends, I'm afraid of them either betraying me, or getting hurt because of me. Whenever I get close to anyone on the outside, I always end up alone again."

Maka looked at Misao with apologetic eyes and hugged her. Misao jumped at first, but then could feel the warmth of her soul. "I can tell by your soul wavelength…that you're scared and lonely. You want to make friends, but don't know how to say it." They stayed like that for a long while until Misao began crying softly. "It's okay, Misao. You don't have to be afraid anymore. Everyone here wants to make you happy and be your friend. Including me."

Misao put her arms around Maka and hugged her back. "Thank you so much, Maka." She said behind the tears. After they let go of each other, Misao wiped her tears away and then helped Maka carry the plates, silverware and cups. Once everyone had everything they needed, Maka finally came in with the lasagna. "Here it is everyone. My famous three-cheese lasagna."

"It's about time! I'm starving!" Black Star exclaimed, standing up in his seat with infamous energy as Maka placed the tray of lasagna in the middle of the table.

"Hang on Black Star; we have to say grace first." Maka said, clapping her hands together. Everyone else followed Maka's example and put their hands together. They all bowed their heads and prayed, "Thank you for the food!", then dug in.

When Misao took a bite of the lasagna, she almost collapsed out of pure pleasure and got lost in the delicious taste.

"What do you think of it, Misao?" Blood asked.

"It's really good." Her smile warmed him.

When they returned back to the school, Misao got straight into the bed. "Today was so weird." Misao muffled through her pillow.

"What do you mean, Misao? Didn't you have fun?" Blood asked.

Misao sat up with the pillow squished in her arms. "That's the point, I did have fun." She answered. "It…It's been a long time since I've been around other people who actually cared about me even though they know close to nothing about me."

Blood walked over and sat beside her, laughing out of joy.

"What's so funny, Blood?" Misao asked him, looking at him confused.

After a minute of laughing, Blood finally spoke up what was on his mind. "Tonight was the first time I've ever seen you have fun. It made me happy…that's all."

Misao looked at Blood's face and knew that it was her new-found laidback attitude that made Blood was very happy. For the first time she went to sleep with a clear head and had the sweet dreams she longed for all her life. Yet in the back of her mind, she knew they were the only sweet dreams she'd have.

Before class, Misao was sitting in class reading a book with Blood when Maka and Soul walked in and sat down. "Misao, Blood, good morning."

"Morning Maka." Blood greeted.

"Hey guys. Thanks again for having us over yesterday." Misao said, closing her book.

"That's what friends are for." Soul said. "Which reminds me, we were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us this weekend? We usually get together and go to the park, where we play basketball. Sound good to you?"

"It'd be more fun if you two came with us."

"That sounds like a good idea, right Misao?" They all turned their attention to Misao.

"Count me in." Misao didn't even think about it like she would usually do.

"Great, it's set." Maka laughed. "I almost forgot I made these for you. Try one." Maka held out a small bowl of rice balls in front of Misao and Blood.

"She was up half the night making them." Soul added.

Misao stared as Blood took the bowl and tried one. "These are great!" Blood exclaimed. "Go ahead Misao, try one for yourself."

Something grew inside of Misao that made her uncomfortable in this situation. She couldn't explain her emotions, but they went out of control to the point where Misao bolted out of the classroom and passed right by Stein just as he approached the door. "Misao is everything okay?" He tried calling out to her, but she ignored him.

Misao ran into the bathroom and locked herself in, curling up in a ball on the floor. 'I can't take this!' she thought to herself as she sobbed uncontrollably. 'Why can't I trust them? Why is it hard for me to trust anyone I come in contact with? Help me…please.'

'I finally found you.' Misao heard a voice echo all around her. It was a voice she knew all too well. It was Asura. 'You disappeared from me for a while. I was…very lonely without you, Misao.' The voice chuckled.

Misao clenched her head, trying to make the voice go away. 'It's all in my head…you're not here. You don't know where I am.'

'Oh but I do. And it won't be long before I finally have you for my own.'

The more Misao tried to resist the voice, the stronger the madness inside her became. It got to the point where when she opened her eyes, she was sitting in a pool of blood and unable to move. Her breathing increased, and her body started sweating and tightening. "Leave me alone!" She let out a terrifying scream.

After she screamed, Misao heard a loud bang on the door. "Misao, are you okay? Misao! Answer me!" The sound of Blood's voice snapped Misao back to what little sense she had inside of her.

Misao got off the floor, opened the door and ran straight into Blood's arms and held him tight. "Blood, he knows! The Kishin knows where I am! He's coming for me!" Blood saw the endless tears that flowed from Misao's eyes and the traumatized state she was in. He felt her body shaken with pure terror. "He's coming for me." She sobbed. "There's nowhere for me to hide."

"Blood, why don't you and Misao go to into my office? I'll send Spirit in there to check on you." Stein said, breaking away the crowd of people.

Blood nodded as he guided Misao down the hall into the infirmary. When they got there, he put Misao in the bed and forced her to lie down. "Misao, just relax. Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

Again I am so sorry. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be up in a few weeks. Also, if you are reading my 'Chaos Nazo' story, the next addition to that will be up after next week or at the end. I apologize again and hope you R&R ^^


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

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The room was silent for a long time, until Spirit finally came in. "Sorry I took so long." He said as he closed the door behind him. "Stein explained everything. Lord Death sensed her madness before it even formed."

Misao had a terrified gaze in her eyes, as if she was waiting for Asura to take her away.

"She's worse than I thought." Spirit said, feeling her forehead. "Her head is burning up." Misao didn't even flinch when Spirit felt her forehead. "This isn't good. She's still in shock. Blood, look in that icebox and grab the bag of ice that's in there."

Blood didn't hesitate when Spirit asked for his help. He brought the bag of ice to Spirit, watching as he placed it on Misao's head. Again, she didn't react to it. "Misao said something about the Kishin whispering in her ear." Blood said, not taking his eyes off her.

"Yeah, Lord Death had a feeling this was the Kishin's doing." Spirit replied. He placed a hand on Blood's shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. "Listen to me Blood. This situation has become more serious."

"I know." He said.

"Understand that you have to do whatever you can to protect Misao. Now that she's starting to have these visions, there's no doubt that Asura will eventually come for her. He'll strike when she's weak and vulnerable, like now. Keep her close to you no matter what, and keep her smiling."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Blood said, holding Misao close to him. "I promised her father that I'd protect her from the Kishin, even if it costs me my own life. I won't let him down." After he said that, Blood felt Misao gently touch his arm and saw that she was staring at him. "Misao, are you okay?"

She didn't speak. She just continued staring at him with blank eyes. "I think what she needs is some rest." Spirit suggested. Blood gently laid her down in the bed and pulled the covers over her and watched her fall asleep. Blood kept hold of her hand as she slept. "Stein will come in after class to check on you two."

"Thanks for all your help, Spirit." Blood said.

"Don't mention it. Well, I'll be going now. See you two around."

After Spirit left the room, Blood decided to put another bag of ice on Misao's head. 'You'll be okay, Misao.' He thought. 'I swear I'll never leave your side again. The Kishin will never get his hands on you.'

"That ice pack is cold, Blood."

Blood looked up with a shocked expression when he saw Misao's eyes open and a small smile as she moved the ice pack away from her head. "Misao, you're okay." He helped her sit up in the bed and continued to hold her close.

"Sort of okay. I still feel a little drowsy." She chuckled under her breath. "You don't look so good either." She pointed out, grabbing Blood's face and taking a closer look. "Your skin is almost transparent."

"I was worried about you. What happened that made you run out of the classroom like that?"

It was hard for Misao to answer that question. She was afraid of how he would react to her answer. But still, she had to tell him the truth. "I couldn't take being around people outside of us. You know it's hard for me to trust others."

"I understand how you're feeling." Blood took her by the hand and smiled at her. "Ever since our village was destroyed by the Kishin, we both have a hard time trusting others. But that's why we came here. Your father trusted Lord Death with his life, along with the people who worked by his side. That's what he wanted you to learn; put your trust in others so you won't be afraid ever again. As long as you have people who'll risk their lives to save you, you won't ever be alone."

Misao let Blood's words sink into her and thought about it. He was right. Her father would want her to open her horizons and ask people for help when she needed it. "I hope Maka and Soul aren't too mad at me for running off on them. Maybe I should go and apologize."

"You don't have to." Misao and Blood looked up at the door to see Maka and Soul standing outside the doorway and smiling. "We heard some of your conversation." They walked in the room and stood around Misao.

"We understand if you don't trust us right away." Soul said. "Just know that we'll still stand by you."

Misao fought back her tears and just continued staring at Soul and Maka. She slowly formed a smile and finally said, "Thanks guys."

"Are we still on for basketball in the park this weekend?" Soul asked.

Misao nodded. "You bet." After she said that, Misao high-fived Soul and laughed. Once Misao felt like her old self again, she took a walk through the town and took in the fresh air. A walk was what Misao needed to clear her head.

"This feels good, doesn't it Misao?" Blood asked walking close behind her.

"It sure does." She answered.

"Hey there! Misao! Blood!" They looked ahead to see Spirit walking towards them smiling. "I see you two are feeling better."

"It's thanks to you and everyone at the academy." Blood said.

"It's no problem. Hey while I've got you, I think I know a place that'll take your stress away in no time flat. Follow me."

Misao was suspicious, but decided to follow Spirit and see for herself. "So…what exactly is this place you're taking us?" She asked.

Spirit giggled and looked at her with a cheeky grin. "You'll see."

'If he pulls something, I'll deck him into the next century.' She thought to herself. They finally arrived at a place called 'Chupa Cabra'. Misao stared at it, trying not to get enraged. But her anger spurred the second they stepped into the bar, and saw all the women surround Blood and compliment on how hot he was. She grabbed Spirit by the neck and slammed him down on the ground, squishing him like a bug. "What the hell kind of place is this!? What made you think that we'd want to come to a place like this?"

"I thought it'd be a good stress reliever for him. They also have male entertainment for you." Misao looked up as three men walked up to her, wanting her to join them in a light conversation. Misao was now even madder than before. "You honestly think…that you could persuade me with this?" She lifted her foot off Spirit, and kicked all the guys at once with one single swing of her leg. They flew across the room, right past Blood, hitting the wall and collapsing. She then stormed over to Blood and yanked him away from the girls, dragging him out of the bar and continuing their walk.

"Misao, ease up a bit on the dragging! You're hurting me!" Blood said, not even attempting to put up a fight.

"Not until we get as far away from this place as possible." Once they were a good distance away, Misao finally let go of Blood. "What was that pervert trying to pull? I see why Maka hates him so much."

"I didn't agree with the way he did it, but he was trying to help us get our minds off of things. You can't deny that." Blood pointed out.

"I guess I have to agree with you on that one." Misao breathed. "I have to admit, everyone here is just like a family. They all rely on one another and make each other laugh when someone's down."

"It brings back memories, doesn't it?" Blood asked, placing a hand on Misao's shoulder.

Misao nodded as she began thinking about how everyone in her village would always say hello to her, and look after her when her father was out on a mission. They'd also stop by the palace to cook for her and read her stories at night. "Like the academy, everyone in the village looked after one another. I remember when the baker and his wife brought all kinds of yummy bread and muffins all the time."

Blood laughed as she made that memory flash through his head. "No one made bread quite like them."

"Remember when they let me help make the bread, and I came out covered in flour? You fell on the floor laughing like hell."

"It's still funny now." He continued laughing, imagining Misao covered in flour.

"Let's head back to the school." Blood suggested. "We should rest up for the weekend."

"Sounds good to me. I was getting tired anyway." Misao yawned as they headed back to the academy and in their room. The second they got there, Misao fell fast asleep once she got in the bed and rested her head on the pillow. Blood pulled the blankets over her. He thought back to when she was a child, and practically begged him to stay by her as she slept.

"Back then, you refused to sleep unless I was there with you." He whispered. "That still hasn't changed one bit." No matter which way he looked, Blood could see Misao's father within her. They were almost the same person. "Master Isame, you don't have to worry about Misao. I'll never go back on my promise to you. I will keep her safe."

When Misao woke up close to noon the next day, there was a knock on the door. "Blood, I think someone's at the door." She yawned, wiping the crust from her eyes. She watched as Blood went to open the door to reveal Stein and Spirit.

"What are you guys doing here?" Blood asked, thinking something was wrong.

"We just thought we'd take you to meet everyone at the park today." Stein answered with a small grin.

"We'll be outside the door when you're ready to go." Spirit closed the door again as he waved.

"Did you still want to go, Misao?" Blood turned to her, seeing the blank look on her face.

"I have to go. I promised them I would. And you know I never go back on my promises; just like my father." She got out of the bed and started getting dressed. She didn't care whether Blood was looking or not because he was the one who always dressed her when she was too young to do it. He would also bathe her. Blood didn't mind in the least bit either. If Misao was comfortable with it, so was he.

"All I could make for your breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal." Blood sat the bowl down on the table after Misao had finished dressing.

Misao wasted no time digging into the delicious breakfast made by Blood. In her opinion, no one made better oatmeal than him. Actually, no one could make any type of breakfast food like Blood. His talent for mixing spices and adding flavor and texture to his dishes were just beyond compare. Misao always believed if Blood opened his own restaurant and let the whole world taste his cooking, it would put others not only out of business, but to shame. "Thanks for the food." Misao said, pushing the now empty bowl away from her. "Now I feel super pumped and ready for anything!"

Blood chuckled at Misao's blast of energy and confidence. "In that case, let's get going." They headed out and let Stein and Spirit take them to meet Maka and the others. Misao had never played basketball before, but she was excited for it.

"Misao, Blood, you guys made it!" Soul waved the moment he saw Misao and Blood turn the corner. "Took you long enough to get here."

"Listen you little punk, just because you're my Maka's weapon doesn't mean you can talk to a young lady with that kind of attitude! Have some respect!" Spirit rushed past Misao and Blood in a burst of wind, and grabbed Soul by the collar of his shirt.

His grip loosened as Misao squeezed in just the right spot. After he let go, Maka slammed his head in the ground. "You're such an idiot." She then turned to Misao and smiled. "Ready to go?"

"You bet." Misao answered.

"Good luck." Misao and everyone turned to face Black Star who was just finishing up some stretches. "You'll need it to beat me. I have serious skill on the court."

"Okay, this game will be four on four." Soul said. "Liz, Misao, me and Kid are a team. While Black Star, Tsubaki, Maka and Patty are on another. First team to score twenty points wins."

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter took too long. The computer I have doesn't have Word. But I forgot that this chapter was pre-typed and decided to upload it ^^;

Hope you enjoyed it ^^

Please R&R


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Author's Note: Okay folks! This is where things start to pick up ^_^ Get ready for some action and suspense!

* * *

Everyone was impressed with Misao's skills when she was able to keep the ball away from everyone on Black Star's team and scored almost six points in one round. Black Star ended up on the ground crying in shame. "It's been a long time since I've seen Misao having this much fun; especially with other people." Blood sat on the bench with Spirit and Stein.

"Did she have friends back in your village?" Spirit asked.

"So many, you couldn't imagine. There was never a time when Misao wasn't surrounded by friends. They'd always run around in the village. I'd have a hard time looking for them, because they were always on the move."

"So you weren't the only one she depended on?" Stein asked.

"Back then, no." Blood answered with a far off gaze. "There wasn't a single person in our village Misao didn't know and wasn't friends with. It wasn't because she was the princess; it was the way she always smiled and how she was always full of energy."

"Hey Blood, did you wanna play? You could be a substitute for either team." Misao looked at Blood, bouncing the basketball in one hand while wiping sweat from her head with the other. "It's super fun!"

"No thanks, I'm fine just watching." He said, smiling.

"If you say so. Black Star, ready to get your ass beat again?" Misao ran back on the court, taunting Black Star endlessly. She knew just how to push his buttons because he was too easy to trick.

"You're really good at this, Misao." Soul complimented, tossing her a bottle of water.

She caught it, and took a long gulp from it. "Thanks Soul. I've never played this game before, but it's really fun."

"Did you ever play any kind of sport where you're from?"

"Actually, my friends and I used to play soccer together. They'd always get in a fight over which team I'd play on."

"You were that good, huh?"

"The best. We even had tournaments in the park sometimes, and I'd win almost all of them." At that moment, Misao began feeling something in the air and stood completely still. 'What is this I'm sensing?' she thought to herself.

"Hey, Misao are you okay?" Soul looked at her, then jumped out of the way when Blood rushed to her side and acted the same way.

"This is the same feeling as that village we investigated." Blood realized. "Be ready, Misao." The air became thick with intensity as they finally found the source of the strange energy. Blood saw a man approach them with a smug grin on his face.

"So I was right. You were here." He said.

Misao gasped as she stared at him. "I know you! You were with that Giriko guy!" she exclaimed, taking one step in front of Blood.

He chuckled. "I'm glad you remember me. It makes me happy that a cute little thing such as yourself recognizes my face."

"Cut the crap and tell me who you are, and what you want!"

The man shrugged his shoulders as he took the book that was tied around his waist and held it in his hands. "How rude of me. You can call me Noah." As he said his name, he opened the book and placed his hand over it. "And to answer your other question, I'm here for you." His glare was set on Misao as a monster shrouded in darkness launched out of the book and went straight for Misao and Blood.

Blood grabbed Misao and quickly jumped out of the way. "Are you alright, Misao?" he asked, releasing her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But what about everyone else?" Misao looked out to see that Soul and the others managed to avoid the monster as well. After it attacked, the monster went back in the book. Misao and Blood headed towards the others. "Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"We're all just fine." Stein answered for the others.

"That's good to hear." Misao said with relief. "What was that thing that attacked us?"

Stein took a closer look at the book that Noah was holding and realized what it was. "That's impossible! How does he have it?"

"What's wrong, Professor Stein?" Maka asked, looking at his tensed expression.

"Spirit, do you recognize that book?"

Spirit stared at it for a few seconds, and tensed up just like Stein. "No, it can't be."

"Stein, Spirit, what's going on?" Blood asked.

"I don't know how, but that man has the Book of Eibon." Spirit began shaking out of disbelief and terror.

"Blood, didn't my father have some knowledge on the Book of Eibon?" Misao asked.

Blood nodded, unable to speak once he realized what type of force they were up against.

"You all seem terrified. Afraid of me now that you know what powers I have?" Noah taunted, still keeping his eyes set on Misao.

"Blood, let's take this guy down." She spoke out. Blood stared at her with a surprised look on his face. "If he's more of a threat with that book, then the best thing to do is try and take it from him. Once we have it, he'll be defenseless." She knew her plan was easier said than done, but wanted to at least try before giving up. As a bonus, she wasn't going to let Noah take her without a fight.

"Okay, but make sure not to hold anything back." Blood said, getting ready for the battle. Misao placed her hand on Blood's back, and transformed him into a weapon. "Let's see if that book can handle me."

"I hope you'll show me a good time."

"Misao, you can't take him on by yourself." Stein came next to her, keeping his eyes on Noah. She noticed that Spirit was in his weapon form. "Look closely at his soul wavelength. He has more power than you and Blood combined."

Misao took another look at Noah, and saw that Stein was right. His soul emanated in the air. She felt her breathing increase and her body shake with fear. 'I have to get it together.' She thought to herself. 'If he senses my fear, I'll have no chance of defeating him. Plus I'll end up slowing down Stein and Spirit.'

"Calm down, Misao." Blood's voice brought Misao back to her senses, and stopped her mind from going all over the place. "You have to stay focused on the enemy in front of you. If you let your mind wonder, he'll gain the upper hand and take you down."

"Blood's right, Misao. Don't let your guard down for even a second. Spirit and I will grab his attention, then you take it from there."

Misao stopped and took a deep breath and stared Noah down. Finally, her breath calmed as well as her trembling. "I'm ready now. Come at me whenever you want!" Stein and Misao both charged at Noah at the same time.

Noah chuckled as he avoided every attack they threw at him. As she continued attacking him, Misao had a strange sensation that Noah had more up his sleeves then he was letting on. "I have to say, I thought you'd be stronger than this."

"Sorry to disappoint you. Guess I'll have to kick it up a notch!" Misao charged at him with Stein right beside her. It wasn't long before he disappeared in a gust of wind to sneak up on Noah and distract him so Misao could grab the book. But somehow, he saw through their plan. Without warning, Noah summoned lightning to strike both Misao and Stein. They both got thrown back by the force. Misao struggled to get up. She had taken more damage than Stein did. "Damn him." She gasped under her breath.

"Can you still fight?" Blood asked her.

She used Blood as a cane to regain her balance and get back on her feet. "I think so."

Noah approached her, wearing a cheerful smirk. "That's a good look for you: pathetic and helpless." Just as he said that, Misao sank back to the ground.

'I don't have enough energy to stand up.' She thought, holding Blood in her lap. 'What am I going to do?'

"Now, you're coming with me."

"Don't even think about it!" Just as Noah extended a hand toward Misao, Blood transformed back into a human and pushed Noah's hand aside. "I refuse to let you lay a single finger on her, you bastard!"

Noah laughed at Blood's bravery. "And what'll happen if I do touch her? You're in no shape to fight, let alone protect her. You're in worse condition than she is!"

Maka and the others suddenly came rushing to help Blood and Misao. "Then how about you take us on?" Soul said.

"That's right! We won't let you pick on our friends!" Black Star announced. They all rushed Noah all together to keep him away from Blood and Misao.

Misao watched as they all risked their lives to protect her. 'This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.' She was happy that she had friends to back her up, but at the same time guilty for dragging them into her battles. 'Now they're gonna get hurt, and it'll be all my fault.' While Misao was blaming herself for putting innocent people in harm's way, something came over her that made her tremble with more fear than ever before. She was so traumatized that she couldn't even move her fingers.

The second Blood sensed the same tension, he turned to Misao to check on her. "Misao, are you alright?"

"He's here." She whispered.

Blood grabbed both of her shoulders. "Who's here?" Before he could get her to speak, dark clouds began forming all around them. One cloud reached down and grabbed Misao, pulling her into the sky. "Misao, no!" Blood tried to hang onto her but eventually lost his grip and released her.

"Blood help me!" Misao screamed at the top of her lungs for someone to save her. But it was too late.

A sinister laugh echoed throughout the park, and all around Death City. Misao knew who it was as she went deeper into the clouds. It wasn't long before she finally saw him after a long time; the Kishin Asura. Misao desperately tried to struggle free, but still found herself completely traumatized.

Finally she came into contact with Asura and could feel every drop of his madness forming around her. "Well, well, Misao Ono. It really has been far too long since we last saw each other. Of course, back then you were only a small defenseless child."

"Well I'm not a child anymore! I'm a meister, and when I get free I'll make you pay for what you did to my father and my entire village!" Although she was still very frightened, it didn't stop her from confronting Asura.

Asura laughed as he grabbed a hold of her wrist and pulled her closer to him. This was just like all of Misao's nightmares; trapped by the Kishin with no way of escaping. She was to be his prisoner for the rest of her life. "It's a shame you'll never get that chance." He gloated. "Because I don't plan on letting you escape me again. And there's no one strong enough to save you."

"That's where you're wrong!" Asura and Misao looked down to see Blood standing up for Misao. "Asura, release Misao now! I won't let you take her!"

"Is that so, Blood? You're just as annoying and stubborn as you were when her father tried to use you to defeat me." Asura opened his mouth wide to blast a powerful beam straight at Blood. Luckily, he was able to dodge the attack just before it hit. But after he dodged it, Asura vanished with Misao.

"Come back! Misao!" Blood shouted at the top of his lungs.

He could still hear Misao screams of terror. "Blood, help me!"

"Misao…no." Blood fell to his knees, not believing that he let Asura take Misao away from him. He became so enraged that he punched the ground and actually left a small crater within it. It didn't matter to him that his fist began bleeding. The only thing he was concerned about was how frightened Misao is now that she's with Asura. 'Forgive me, Master Isame.' He prayed in his head. 'I failed you.'

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Author's Note: Didn't I tell you this chapter would be full of suspense? From this point on, things will get more interesting. Please R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

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Misao felt pressure being pushed down on her as she slept. It grew so large and dense that she woke up abruptly to find herself lying in a large bed surrounded by red glowing candles. When she sat up, she noticed she was wearing a strange outfit that made her look like a sorceress of some sort. "Where…am I? More importantly, why am I wearing this get-up?" Suddenly everything came back to her. "That's right. I was captured by the Kishin. This castle must be his hideout." She got out of the bed to look out the window. Misao could see everything from the height she was at. 'I've got to get out of here, and get back to Blood.' Just as she made a break for the door, it opened to reveal Noah and Giriko blocking the exit. 'Dammit, looks like I'll have to find another way to escape.'

"Hehe, well look at you." Noah smiled, staring at Misao up and down. "That outfit really suits you."

"Shut up and tell me where I am!" she demanded.

"You're with me now." A voice spoke from behind Noah. Asura emerged from behind his henchmen and stared at Misao. She took a few steps back, not believing that the Kishin was standing right there before her eyes. "My, my how you've grown. You resemble your father so very well."

Misao could see the madness surrounding the room and slowly consume her from all sides. 'He's gained more power than I thought.' She thought; her hands and knees trembling. 'I'd forgotten what his energy felt like up close. Medusa must've been out of her mind if she thought she could control such power.'

Asura laughed at the fear shown on her face. "Poor little girl. You're scared out of you mind." Knowing she was too afraid to even move, Asura began to approach her. "Don't worry, my dear. You'll get used to this feeling very soon. After all, it's only a matter of time before it sinks into you and becomes a part of your very being."

Hearing that, something inside Misao sparked and released itself the more her fear increased. Her soul wavelength formed around her and expanded up to where Asura had stopped. Without knowing it, she released enormous tons of energy that flew all across the room. "I won't give in." She said, looking possessed. "I won't give in." Harnessing enough raw power, Misao let some of it go in a massive blast directly toward Asura.

When it got within inches from him, he put his hand out and stopped it with little to no effort. "Yes, this is the power I've searched for." He whispered, as he pushed the energy back, causing it to disappear within seconds. After that, he walked up to the blacked-out Misao and used his power of madness to cancel out her energy. The aura vanished, and Misao fell to the floor, unconscious. "So, Isame hid the forbidden power within his own daughter; exactly as I thought." Asura walked up to Misao and picked her up from the ground. "All I have to do now is mix that power with madness, and she'll be under my control." After he said that, Asura turned around and looked at Noah. "Take her and put her in the tower. When she wakes up, send her to me." He handed Misao to Noah, then watched him walk out with her.

"So that's what happened." Lord Death said after hearing Stein's report on the situation. Everyone who was involved was in the Death Room, figuring out what they were going to do. Blood faced away from everyone, feeling disappointed in himself for letting Misao get taken by the Kishin. Lord Death continued speaking. "Now all that's left is to rescue Misao before Asura can manipulate her with the power of madness."

"But how?" Soul asked. "We barely survived the Kishin's henchmen."

"Soul's right. Rescuing Misao isn't going to be easy. We have to come up with some kind of plan." Maka spoke out.

"I'll go and get her." Everyone turned to see Blood finally stand up and make his way towards the exit. "I promised Master Isame I wouldn't let anything happen to Misao. And I intend to keep that promise no matter what."

"Hold it right there, Blood." Spirit chased him down before he got too far and grabbed his shoulder. "You can't just barge in and take her back. The Kishin is too powerful for you to take on alone. Plus, after what happened in the park, none of us are in any shape to take him on now."

Blood pushed Spirit's hand away and yelled, "What am I supposed to do, then!? Who knows what he's doing to her right now! I can't just sit here and do nothing." He paused to calm himself down and take a breath. "Look, there's more to this than you all know. Lord Death, you and I are the only ones here that know the real reason Asura is after Misao."

Lord Death turned and faced his mirror, hesitating to explain everything. Finally an image of a small blue orb appeared in the mirror's reflection. "This orb is one of the most powerful objects the world has ever seen. I gave it to Isame for safe keeping when I went to visit him."

"I don't get it." Black Star blurted out. "What's so special about it?"

"Well, Black Star, this orb has the power to enhance a person's soul wavelength by ten thousand." The air in the room became tense once everyone heard that. Lord Death continued. "So, it would be bad news for us if the Kishin ever got his hands on it."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain what that has to do with Misao." Soul pointed out.

"Yeah, if Asura is after this orb, why kidnap Misao?" Maka asked. But a few seconds afterward, she had a theory. "Does Misao know where it is?"

Blood looked down and answered her question. "You're close, Maka." He said painfully. "It's inside of her." All eyes were on Blood.

"What do you mean…it's inside her?" Kid asked.

Blood took in a breath before explaining. "It happened the day Asura came to our village and destroyed it. He sensed the orb was there, and was determined to find it. The moment he approached the castle, Master Isame knew he would find it in a matter of minutes. There was only one thing he could do to keep it safe: place it within his only daughter. He placed it inside Misao while she was asleep, knowing it's aura would be blocked by her soul wavelength."

"Hold on for a second." Spirit interrupted. "When you first came here, you told us that during that attack, Misao was taken hostage by the Kishin."

"That's correct." Blood continued. "The master and I went to fight the Kishin head on, thinking Misao was safe in her room. But the guards weren't strong enough to fight off his henchmen. They grabbed Misao and brought her to the battle. Asura took her and threatened the master and I. If we gave them the orb, he'd let Misao go free. He was so focused on us that he couldn't sense the orb's energy from her. That's when Master Isame set me aside and tried to fight off the Kishin on his own. He managed to weaken him and force him to retreat, but at the cost of his own life. With his last bit of strength, he took Misao into his arms for the last time and kissed her on the forehead. With his last breath, he told me to protect her no matter what. I gave him my word that I would and watched him die. From then on, all I could think about was protecting Misao and staying by her side just as her father requested. But now that Asura managed to find her and the orb, I feel as though I let my master down."

They all watched as Blood did his best to fight back his tears. He wanted to get Misao back, and planned on doing just that regardless of what the others said. He then felt a hand touch his shoulder gently. He turned around to see Tsubaki smile at him. "Everything will be alright, Blood." She reassured him, wiping his tears away. "We'll get Misao back safely. You have all of us to help you. For now, you should get some rest and get your wounds looked at." Blood remained silent as he let Tsubaki take him out of the Death Room to fix his bruises. All he could think about was Misao's happy, innocent face as she dragged him to the garden to play. That vision soon turned to an image of Misao surrounded by madness, reaching out to him for help. He snapped out of his nightmare once he was in his room, sitting on the bed. "Now just sit still and relax. I'm going to put some medicine on your wounds, then wrap them up in bandages."

"I don't need any medical treatment." He said softly.

Tsubaki looked at him.

"The only thing that matters to me is getting Misao back." Blood tried to stand up from the bed, using his own strength. However, the moment he got to his feet, pain coursed through his body and made him sit back down as tears fell from his face out of the excruciating pain he felt.

Tsubaki smiled. "Now do you see? You're in worse shape than you know." She proceeded to fix him up as he sat in silence, feeling more pain in his heart than in his body.

He could still see her smile and hear her laughing like she always did. 'I'm sorry Misao. I let you down.' The smile he saw in his head turned into a terrorized face, begging him to save her as she faded into the darkness. Blood did his best not to show any reaction to his vision, but couldn't stop his body from trembling at the thought of permanently losing Misao.

"That should do it." Tsubaki finished bandaging Blood, and then sat next to him on the bed. "The medicine I put on the bandages should heal you up pretty quickly. Add that to your physical healing process and you'll be back to normal in no time."

"I wonder if she's mad at me. I wouldn't blame her." Blood said softly. "I just sat back and let her get taken. She deserves better."

Tsubaki tapped him over the head, giving him a disappointed look. "Don't say things like that. She doesn't hate you."

"How do you know?"

"Because you two are always close to each other. Plus, Misao can't stop talking about you whenever one of us is alone with her. Her eyes light up and she blushes."

Blood didn't know what to say to that. He started to form a small smile after hearing how much he meant to Misao.

Tsubaki giggled to herself at Blood's expression. "Looks like Misao isn't the only one with strong feelings." She said.

"Huh? What do you mean, Tsubaki?" Blood asked.

"You have some feelings for Misao, don't you?" she asked.

When Tsubaki said that, Blood's eyes widened as he almost fell over off the bed. "What're you talking about, Tsubaki!? I don't…"

"You can't hide it from me. We're both weapons, and we sort of think alike. Also, don't forget that I'm a ninja and I'm good at reading people. You like her, and she definitely likes you. So you saying that she hates you and she deserves better would break her heart."

Blood sat up and thought about Tsubaki's explanation. He remembered her cheerful smile and her warm laughter every time she was around Blood. "That's more reason to get her back." He said, smiling at Tsubaki.

"That's the spirit."

"What's going on in here?" Stein entered the room, hands deep in his lab coat pockets.

"Nothing, we were just talking." Tsubaki said, standing up.

"How do you feel, Blood?"

"Thanks to Tsubaki, I feel a lot better. There's still some pain lingering, but it's no big deal."

Stein nodded as he tossed Blood a small jar of pills. "Just to be on the safe side, take these twice a day. It'll get rid of any pain that refuses to go away. You need your rest, so we'll leave you alone."

"Thanks, Professor. And thank you, Tsubaki." He looked at her and winked at her before she walked out of the door with Stein. When Blood was finally alone, he opened a bottle of water and took one of the pills before lying down on the bed and slowly drifting off to sleep.

After Misao woke up a few hours later, she felt the madness form around her, taking over her mind. 'His aura is everywhere.' She said to herself, shivering in fear. 'I have to protect myself, or else I'll completely lose it. She combined her soul energy with the orbs to form a purification barrier around herself in order to keep the madness wave away from her for as long as she could.

Shortly after doing so, the door opened to reveal Noah and his servant Gopher. Misao eyed them, making sure they didn't come any closer. "Do you really think that barrier will keep you safe?" Noah laughed. "Face it, you don't have enough strength to hold that up. Even if you're within the barrier, the madness is slowly draining your energy. It will continue to eat at you until you're drained of energy."

"It doesn't matter." She said in a calm yet annoyed voice. "I won't let Asura control me. My friends will save me before you do any damage."

"Is that what you believe?" A voice echoed throughout the room. At that point, Misao noticed her shield vanish and her arms pinned down to her side. "You believe your friends will come to your rescue before it's too late?" Asura chuckled, tightening his grip on Misao. "This is your fate, Misao. You're place is with me…forever."

His madness filled the air, suffocating Misao. She felt her body become weak and tremble as goose bumps started forming down her neck and arms. "This power…will never be yours." She said to him, trying to fight through the madness. "Even if you do get it, you won't be able to control it."

Asura chuckled while tightening his grip on her. "You're right; I won't be able to control it…unless I harvest it."

"Harvest?" Misao questioned.

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Author's Note: Sorry folks ^^ But I must leave a little suspense just to keep things interesting. Teehee...I'm evil like that. Anyway, please R&R and I will post the next chapter in two weeks. Sorry these take so long to upload. Lots of things have been going on.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

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"What do you mean harvest?" Misao asked, feeling the madness enter her body.

Asura chuckled while still keeping a good grip on her arms. "Believe me, you'll find out soon enough. For now, it's time to start business." He released Misao and flew off the bed. Noah and Gopher bowed down as Asura approached them. "The two of you and Giriko take Misao to a village just north of here. I need more human souls to feed on. Go now."

"Yes Master." Noah bowed as Asura left the room.

He stopped just outside the door and looked back over his shoulder at Misao. "I'm anxious to see how you perform, Misao. Don't disappoint me." He chuckled and then proceeded down the hall.

Misao froze as she felt madness attach itself to her soul. Her skin became ice cold, her heart pounded faster with each breath she took, and all she could see were slight visions of her village being burned down in her head. 'Blood…please hurry. I need you.'

They headed straight for the village Asura instructed them to go to so they could collect human souls as offerings to him. Misao rode on the back of a griffon Noah summoned from the Book of Eibon, while Giriko used his saw legs to skate on the surface of the earth at top speed and Gopher flying next to the griffon with his wings that he conjured from the sleeves of his shirt.

"I hope this is going to be a fun experience!" Giriko said with enthusiasm in his voice. "You better not slow us down girl."

"She won't slow us down." Noah assured him, looking back at Misao from the corner of his eye. "I think she'll be a worthy ally in our mission. We'll have plenty of souls to offer to Lord Asura with her help."

Fear clenched her heart, gripping it tighter as the journey continued. It wasn't long before they were above the village, landing discretely in a back alleyway. Misao jumped off the griffon before it landed. Right as she touched down, Giriko came from behind her and stopped a few feet behind her. "I hope you guys have a plan." She said sternly, crossing her arms.

"What is the plan here?" Giriko asked as well. "As much as I want to, we can't just go out there and start killing people. We have to be discrete."

Noah took a peek around the corner, watching all the people walk around. "Misao, come over here."

Hesitant, Misao stood behind him and looked over his shoulder.

"See that guy over there?"

She looked over to where Noah was pointing to see a young man with short hair that stopped where his neck and torso met. He wore a light-blue sleeveless shirt with white shorts and white shoes. He was at a shop looking through trinkets and random objects. "What about him?" She had a feeling she knew what Noah wanted her to do, but she just waited for him to answer her question.

"Use your charm to get his attention and trust. Then tonight, lure him back here and we'll take his soul. Easy as pie." He smiled at Misao.

She slowly backed away, wishing she had the courage to refuse and then run away. But without Blood by her side, she felt helpless. Doing this would just put more pain on Misao's heart. It wasn't just the fact that she was going to take away an innocent person's soul for a crazed man bent on spreading madness across the globe; it was the fact that she would be betraying Blood and the connection they share as meister and weapon. "I can't." Her heart pounded as the words leaked from her lips.

Noah and the others glared at her as she trembled. "What was that?" Noah began to slowly approach her.

Misao shook her head as she continued to step backwards. "I can't do it. He doesn't deserve it. None of these people do." She kept backing up until she collided with Giriko, who grabbed her both arms and held her in place.

She didn't put up a fight as Noah stopped in front of her and jerked her head to look at him. "It seems you've already forgotten who you belong to. Asura is your new Lord. You serve him with no questions. He can easily take your life now and retrieve that little gem you have in your sexy body." He put his free hand against Misao's exposed stomach and let his hand touch all around her flesh. "But just for his amusement, he's keeping you alive. If you want another reason, your friends are on the line as well."

Her blood ran cold and her heart ceased its pounding the moment he mentioned her friends. "No, you can't hurt them!"

"Oh but we can. However, we'll let them live a little longer if you do this job. Lure that boy back here once the crowd dies down. Are we clear?"

"Yes." Misao let her arms fall to her side once Giriko and Noah released her. 'Blood…forgive me.' Tears finally released from her eyes as she stared back at the young man.

"Good girl. Now get going. We'll be watching your every move."

"Yeah, so don't go thinking you can run off and hide him. You don't bring him back here, you're friends pay the price. Especially that pathetic plaything you call your weapon." Giriko gave her a last warning before she began to move out of the alley.

The tears dried up as she entered the sun and proceeded towards the man. Misao took in a deep breath and moved in. She stood within inches of him, staring at the same little charms that were displayed. "They're beautiful. Aren't they?" she complimented the charms as they attempted to gleam in the little bit of sunlight that came in.

"Yeah, especially the material they're made of. It's pure titanium." The man said back to her with a smile.

"These are titanium?"

The man nodded, taking a random charm off of the hook and holding it up to the sun. "You must be a tourist. Our village is famous for producing titanium. We get a lot of profit from buyers and traders wanting to purchase some for themselves."

"Wow that's amazing." Misao found herself letting go of the threats made to her by Asura's lackeys and just became a normal girl. "I'm Misao."

"The name's Hunter. Say, would you like to hang out with me? I can show you the town."

"I'd like that, Hunter." She walked with Hunter to the merchant who sold the charms and bought one for Misao before heading out to explore.

After touring the town, Hunter and Misao sat down in a restaurant and grabbed something to eat. "So Misao, where are you from?"

Misao hesitated answering that question. "Well…I'm from Ukanda Village. It was destroyed when I was young."

"I'm so sorry." He said with sympathy in his voice.

Misao shook her head, fighting off the memories that entered her mind. "It's okay."

"So, where do you live now?"

"Death City."

"No way, you live in Death City!?" Hunter had enthusiasm in his voice while looking at Misao with excitement. "It's been my dream to visit that place! Have you ever been inside of the DWMA?"

She froze when that question entered her ears. "Umm…not really. But I have met people who go there. They're really nice people."

Hunter sighed as he drank more of his beverage. "I'm currently saving up money to go to Death City. I want to open my own shop there and live on my own."

"What kind of shop do you want to own?"

"My mom and dad are professional sculptors. We make bowls and pots for everyday use. Everyone in my family save up life-savings so we can travel and open up our own shop away from home."

"That's amazing. Well I hope your dream comes true." Misao smiled at him. After laughing with him, she looked to the corner of her eye and saw Noah and the others keeping a close watch on them. She quickly looked away, finishing her meal pretending she didn't make contact with them.

Once it got late, Misao and Hunter sat in a field watching the sun go down. The sun drooled and twitched trying to stay awake, but it was a useless battle. "This is probably the best day of my life." Hunter said, pulling Misao closer in his arms.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Well, it's a little embarrassing…but I haven't been on a date with a girl in a long time."

She saw his face flush red as he said that. "Really? That's hard to believe."

"Yeah I know." Hunter chuckled, looking back up at the sky. "The last girlfriend I had only lasted a month. She was really cute and nice but…her parents didn't like her being with me. So they moved."

"That's horrible." Misao sat up and looked into his depressed eyes. "Why did they not like you?"

Hunter shrugged his shoulders while giving a small smile. "I don't know myself."

It was time. Misao hesitated on moving her muscles as she thought about what her true purpose was for hanging out with this boy. 'I'm sorry Hunter.' She stood up and let the night breeze blow her tears away. "Hunter, let's go back to the village. It's getting late." She held out her hand to him and kept his hand in hers as they walked back to the place where they met.

"I'm glad I met you, Misao. You really made my day."

"I'm glad I met you too, Hunter. And…I'm sorry." She released his hand and kept her head down.

"What're you sorry for?" He looked at her with curiosity until he found himself surrounded by three guys.

Noah laughed as he came from behind Misao and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Well done, Misao. Just like we planned."

"Wh-What's going on? Who are you people?" Hunter backed away with fear running through his body.

"We're followers of the Kishin." Noah answered. "We used Misao to let your guard down so we could take your soul and offer it to him. You should be honored."

"No…please don't do this. Misao help me! Please!"

Misao wanted to help him, but with Noah's arm around her, she herself was afraid to even flinch. "I'm sorry, Hunter. There's…nothing I can do." She looked away as Hunter screamed in pain over the sound of Giriko's chainsaw legs slashing him in half. His blood spilt all over the pavement and his soul hovered in mid-air.

Noah walked over and took the soul. "Well that's one down. We need to collect a few more, so we'll be staying here for a while." He put the soul in the Book of Eibon and went to look for a hotel for them to stay in.

Blood barely paid attention to anything he did since Misao was taken from him. He constantly wore a depressed expression and looked as if he had lost sleep in the last few days. Every day he sat in class just staring into space, thinking about Misao. 'I will get you back, Misao. Please hang on a little longer.'

"Blood, do you mind if we talk?" Soul came up to him after class and led him into the hall. Blood stood against the wall, looking at his feet. "The others wanted me to talk to you about this whole situation. We're sorry for what happened. We should've fought harder and backed you guys up."

"It's not your fault." Blood said in a monotone. "It was mine. I'm her protector, but I couldn't save her."

Soul sighed, keeping his hands in his pockets as he took two steps closer to Blood. "Look, we're all worried about you. We'll get Misao back and then stop Asura. You being depressed and emo like this is starting to affect the rest of us. Misao wouldn't want you moping around would she? She'd want you to continue on with your head up, confident that you'll rescue her. She believes in you…now you have to believe in you."

It didn't take long for Blood to regain his smile back as he looked up at Soul. "You're right, Soul." They bumped fists, chuckling with each other.

"Just stay cool and everything will be alright."

"Yeah."

"Blood, there you are." Blood and Soul looked over to see Sid approach them.

"What's up, Sid? Is everything okay?" Soul asked.

"Lord Death and Professor Stein want to see you, Blood. They're in the Death Room. They said it's urgent."

"Did they find Misao!?" Blood asked with enthusiasm.

Sid just looked at him for a moment. "All they told me was to find you. I don't know anything. You should hurry over there. They said it can't wait."

Blood ran past Sid in a gust of wind and entered the Death Room where Stein and Lord Death stood waiting for him. To his surprise, Kid, Liz and Patty were there as well. "I got here as fast as I could, Lord Death. Do you know where Misao is?" He panted in between his words, his heart racing faster than he could keep up with.

Stein adjusted his glasses before speaking. "First, we have a situation. There is a town in Canada where there have been numerous accounts of disappearances occurring. We managed to get some info from an outside source, who says that most of the victims are men. There have been accounts of female victims. But it's the number of males that is not making sense."

"What do you mean?" Blood asked, finally able to control his heart.

"Eyewitness accounts say that the men were found in the streets dead with their souls taken." Lord Death took over. "Also they all claim that before their death, the men were seen with a young girl who they say is an outsider. However, because the town is always so busy with people, no one can ever get a good look at her."

"Judging by the descriptions from most people who did catch her face, it's possible that the young girl is Misao."

Blood froze once he heard her name. "Misao? But…why would she…"

"There's a good chance that Asura has forced her to capture souls in order for him to regain his power." Stein stepped forward until he was in the center of everyone. "You, me, Kid, Liz and Patty are going to head to Canada and investigate further. If Misao is behind this, we'll do everything in our power to take her back."

"But I'm useless without my meister." Blood pointed out. "As much as I want to go and help out, all I'd be doing is slowing you guys down."

"Not to worry. Come here."

Blood slowly approached Stein. Once they were within each other's space, Stein placed his right palm in the center of Blood's chest while adjusting his glasses again with the other. He then applied a small amount of pressure to his chest which created a slight shock throughout Blood's body. Stein then removed his hand and lit a cigarette. "What did you do?" Blood asked.

Stein released a puff of smoke in the air before answering. "I linked with your soul wavelength. I'm able to match my wavelength with whomever I choose. This way I can use you with no problems."

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Please R&R ^_^


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Author's Note: OMG I AM SOOOOO SORRY THIS TOO TILL NOW TO UPLOAD! I was vacationing n Florida for a whole month and my dad didn't have internet or cable. When I came back home, just my luck that my mom's internet and cable got cut off! UUGGHH I almost shot myself! But I am back in college and taking advantage of the wifi and acthing up with projects I couldn't do.

I really hope you enjoy this chapter and again...I'm REEEAAAAALLLY sorry this took forever ^^;

* * *

"Now that that's settled, we should head out now." Kid stepped in. "We're wasting time standing here."

"You're coming too, Kid?" Blood asked.

"Why do you think we're here?" Liz chimed in, her hands folded underneath her breasts. "Misao's like a sister to us."

"Besides, this'll be fun with all of us together!" Patty jumped around in excitement.

"I'm going to warn you now Blood." Kid got into Blood's face with a serious look in his eyes. His gaze nearly petrified Blood. "This mission requires composure and precision. If it comes down that you have to fight Misao, don't let your emotions get the better of you. Understand?"

Blood nodded his head before Kid, Liz and Patty walked past him and out of the Death Room.

"That's my boy!" Lord Death exclaimed, holding up a peace sign. "Just like his old man! He makes me so proud." His comment completely broke the tension that lingered around them.

"Get yourself ready, Blood." Stein said, placing a hand on Blood's shoulder. "We'll head out in five minutes. Like Kid said Blood; you have to stay focused. Lose yourself once and you'll die."

Blood headed to his room in the dungeon to gather what he needed for the mission. As he packed, he came across an old photo of Misao when she was two. She was with her father and him. In the photo, Blood was about five or six years old. Blood fought back the tears as he looked at Misao's happy smile. 'Hang on a little longer, Misao. I'm coming for you.'

"Umm, Blood?" Maka called from the opened door. "Stein and the others are waiting."

"Okay, I'm on my way. Did they send you down here to get me?" he asked.

"Sort of. I'm visiting a friend who lives down here. But since I was on my way here, they told me to get you."

"I see."

Maka approached him and held his unnerving hand in hers. "Everything will be okay. We're all behind you all the way."

"Thanks Maka. You all have been very good friends to Misao and I." Blood smiled while looking out the window. "Ever since we lost our home, Misao has had a hard time making new friends and opening up to people. Because of you and the others, she's able to smile and be herself. I've tried for years to get her to smile and free herself from her own darkness. You all seemed to pick her up with no problem."

Maka chuckled. "The DWMA are like family. We stand together no matter what gets in our way. You better hurry. Misao is waiting."

"Don't worry. I'll bring her back safe and sound." Blood ran past Maka to join Stein and the others at the front entrance of the school. Once they were all gathered, they began their journey.

They all headed for the train station to board the 2:15 pm train to the village. "The train will be here in twenty minutes." Stein said, looking at the clock. "Looks like we have to sit and wait. How about we get some refreshments from the shop?"

"Oh oh! I want some candy and juice! Let's go, sis!" Patty drug Liz to the food court while laughing cheerfully.

"Kid, are you coming?" Stein asked.

Kid shook his head. "I already packed some refreshments. I'm fine."

"What about you, Blood? You want anything?"

Blood was silent for a while. "Green tea please."

Stein nodded as he walked off.

Blood continued to stare off into space as he took a seat on a wooden bench outside the station.

"I hope you're keeping your focus." Kid came and sat next to Blood with his emotionless expression. "Listen, I'm sorry if I'm being harsh about this situation. But it's only a matter of time before Asura regains his power. We all have to be on our guard, or the entire world is doomed."

"I understand." Blood spoke softly. "I'm trying to keep my cool. But…it's hard to. Lately I've had dreams where Misao is calling me. I try to reach out to her but then…she vanishes. It's not just Misao I'm worried about. I don't want anyone else to suffer like Misao's father and all of our old friends did. If Asura gains the power of that orb…not even your father will be able to stop him."

"All the more reason to get Misao away from Asura." Stein stepped into the conversation, handing Blood his bottled green tea. He watched Blood take the bottle and stare into the liquid. "If we proceed carefully, we'll be able to save Misao."

Blood opened his drink and took a long sip from it, feeling its magical healing powers upon his mind. His hands stopped shaking and his head became clear with their main goal. After waiting a while, their train finally arrived and they boarded without a moment's hesitation. Blood and Stein sat next to each other, across from Kid, Liz and Patty. The ride was quiet as they all took the time to rest their souls.

Blood got lost in the scenery that blurred around the train. Thinking about Misao being abused by Asura's followers made him bite his lip. He sank his teeth in his skin, releasing a thread of blood that flowed down his chin.

The ride took an hour and a half before they arrived. The first thing they did after leaving the station was contact Lord Death, to report that they had made it to the village and were beginning their investigation. "Dad, we've reached the location of the disappearances. We're going to gather information from the people."

"I'm counting on you! Good luck son!" Lord Death waved a peace sign before disconnecting the line.

"Okay, let's begin our investigation." Kid led the group across the street and into the town.

As they walked, a familiar voice rang in Blood's ears, halting his feet. He turned his head and thought he saw the short blue hair and warm smile he knew and missed. 'I could've sworn I saw her.'

"Blood, what's taking so long?" Stein called out to him.

Blood took one last glance at the spot he saw her, then joined the others. "Sorry about that."

Kid stopped in front of a middle-aged woman carrying a shopping basket. "Excuse me ma'am. We'd like to ask you some questions."

"Oh, you're new here aren't you?" she asked them. "What can I do for you?"

"We're from the DWMA. We've come to investigate the strange murders that have occurred here recently. Can you give us any information on the subject?"

The woman was silent for a few moments. "Ahh…I see." She nodded. "Yes, there have been murders occurring here. The victims are mostly young men around the ages of sixteen and twenty-four. We've even had three women found dead as well. All the male victims were seen with a young woman. Then come morning, they were dead."

"Can you tell us more about the girl?" Blood interjected. "What does she look like?"

"I haven't seen her myself. I usually don't come to this side of town. I only came because I needed some fruit and ingredients. But if you want more details, you should go to the baker just down the street. From what I've heard, his son was the latest victim. He'll be happy to help with your search." The woman walked off in the opposite direction while the gang headed for the bakery like she told them.

"Welcome to my shop." The baker greeted them from the front counter with a smile. "What can I do for you folks? You don't look like you're from around here."

Stein adjusted his glasses and spoke. "We're from the DWMA. We got reports of strange killings in this town and have come to put an end to them. We passed a woman outside saying your son was the latest victim in these series of attacks."

The baker sighed as he stroked his beard in silence. "Yes, Mark was found early this morning by the paperboy. We had a small service for him and then as the father, I buried him in the cemetery." The man fought back his tears as he recounted the image of him burying his own son.

"If it's alright, we'd like to ask you a few questions about your son. Will you answer them?"

"Of course. If you're here to help us, I'll tell you as much as I know." The baker cleared his throat.

"Thank you. To start off, was your son with anyone?" Stein began.

"Yes, he had brought home a young girl with him he met in the market. He said the girl was being harassed by some troublemakers and he went in to save her. After that, he brought her back here to rest. She seemed shaken up by the attack; her eyes were almost soulless with a hint of trauma."

"Do you remember what the girl looked like?" Blood asked calmly. He quietly clenched his fists by his side, hoping his answer would be the one he wanted.

"How could I not remember? When she regained her senses, she was quite a charming young lady. She had dark skin and the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. For a moment I thought she was an angel. She also had strange markings underneath her eyes."

'There's no doubt about it.' Blood thought to himself. 'It's Misao.'

"Did she happen to mention her name?" Stein asked. He and Kid kept a close watch on Blood to make sure he didn't react if they gave a name they were all expecting to hear.

The barber thought hard about the girl's name. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid I'm terrible with remembering names. Even with a cute girl like her, I don't remember."

Blood didn't dare to move a single muscle. Liz stepped next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine." Stein said. "Since you only met her for a short time, it's not surprising that you would forget her name. Anyway, let's fast forward to your son's death. Was there anything out of the ordinary when his body was found?"

"Actually yes. He was cut up beyond recognition. It took us a long time to clean up the blood that had spread. Another strange thing was, during the funeral service…I saw the woman he was with. She stood there with a blank face. She didn't even seem shocked at the sight of Mark's body. After I began to bury him, the girl slipped passed the crowd and vanished from sight. Then later in the afternoon, I got another glimpse of her with another man. I was surprised that she had gotten over my son so quickly."

"Did you get a chance to talk to her again?" Kid asked.

The baker nodded. "She and the new man came in and asked for some bread. I asked the girl if she recognized me, but she denied ever meeting with me. I then brought up my son, but she didn't answer me. The man she was with took his order, paid me and they left without a word."

"Let me guess. The next morning, the man she was with was found dead as well." Kid said.

The baker nodded. "You got it. He was killed the same way my son and the others were."

"Thank you for all your help." Stein said. "We'll do our best to stop whoever's behind this."

"I don't believe that girl is the one committing all these murders." He said before they left. "It seems impossible for one person to kill a large number of people and not be noticed."

"I agree completely." Stein said. "We have to get going now."

"Be careful. If she hasn't found a victim yet, she might pray on one of you."

They walked out of the bakery and back onto the streets. "Well what do we do now? Should we split up and look for Misao?" Liz asked.

"I'm surprised no one has been able to spot Misao." Patty chimed. "Her blue hair definitely makes her stand out, you think people would recognize her."

"You're right, Patty." Kid stopped. "Misao is the type to stand out in a large crowd."

"If you stop to think about it, this town is a lot bigger than what it seems." Blood pointed out. "The station had different maps of different parts of the town. This small marketplace is part of a large town."

"But this is the only place the murders have happened. Everyone here seems to be close to one another, once again making it difficult to just pass by someone and not recognize them. So why is it that none of these people can identify Misao if they claim to have seen her? They all walk on, thinking she's just another visitor."

"Maybe we'll get our answers soon." Stein said, looking up at the sky. "It's almost dark. From the reports, the murders are likely to take place after dark and once all of the stores close. If we wait around long enough, we just might be able to stop the next murder."

They all spent the rest of the day gathering more information on the murders. They were able to talk to other people who had their sons taken from them. Most of them didn't even meet the girl and others had a similar story to the baker's: they only met the girl for a short time and then she just vanished. But still Blood was concerned. How could they not identify her even after meeting her and seeing her with other potential victims?

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That's all for now ^^ Hope you enjoyed! The next edition will be posted up in two weeks at the earliest.

Please R&R


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

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After waiting for hours, nighttime finally came and the people began to clear the streets and roads. Before long, the gang was alone in the dark streets. The streetlights lit up one by one after five minutes. "Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious." Kid ordered. "Misao can't be hard to spot now."

"Maybe we should split up and look around the town." Liz suggested.

"I agree." Blood responded quickly, pushing off the wall he was leaning against. "It's better than just sitting here."

"No, we stay together." Kid said in a stern tone, keeping the same blank facial expression. "We just have to be patient. It's still too soon for the murder to happen. If we search the town now, we search together." Kid then froze for a moment. His breathing slowed down as he looked around the area.

Liz and Patty noticed their meister acting strange and went to his side. "Are you okay, Kid?" Liz asked. "You don't look so good."

"She's close."

They all turned their attention to Stein. "Hey, what's going on with you two?" Patty asked.

"Misao's soul. It's giving off a bit of energy. Kid and I can both sense it." There was a short pause as a cool breeze passed through them. "She's not alone."

"I had a great time with you, Misao." Alex said, taking both of her hands in his. "I'm glad I met you today."

Misao couldn't look him in the eyes as she took back her hands. Tears attempted to fall once again, but she fought them back. "I did too." Her voice was soft and cracked in some areas. "But…our relationship ends here."

"What do you mean?" Alex attempted to lift Misao's chin to see her face.

"She means your soul belongs to us." Noah and the others appeared out of the shadows and surrounded Misao and Alex. Noah and Gopher stood behind Misao and gave Alex a sinister smile.

Struck with fear, Alex grabbed Misao's wrist and backed away slowly. He turned around to see a man with blades around his legs. "Who…are you?"

Misao released her hand from Alex's grip, walking over to Noah.

"Misao, what's going on?"

"This was a trap." She answered in the same soft tone. Her head was still tilted down with her eyes closed tightly. "Your soul will be taken and given to Lord Asura."

Giriko approached Alex, ready for his bloodlust to be satisfied. He raised his leg into the air, blades spinning around it. As his leg came down, a blast came from behind Noah and Misao. A quick flash passed them and hit Giriko's leg just as it was inches away from Alex.

Misao looked behind her and shed tears the moment she saw Blood, Stein and Kid standing a few feet behind them. Liz and Patty were guns and Kid pointed them at Giriko. The shot caused Giriko to miss his target and make a path for Alex to escape. 'Is it really him?' Misao couldn't take her eyes off of Blood. Her heart raced faster and faster the longer she gazed at him.

"Misao!" Blood called out her name, and ran to her.

He got about half-way when Noah put his arm around Misao, causing Blood to stop dead in his tracks. "Blood, glad you could make it. Along with your friends from DWMA." Noah spoke with a casual tone and a smirk. "To be honest, we didn't expect you to take this long to find us."

"Get your hands off of Misao!"

Misao stood there silently, her throat drying up every second that went by.

"I'm not doing anything to her. She's perfectly fine. Not a scratch on her."

Misao could hear Blood growl with rage. She then saw Stein stop him from doing anything stupid that would get others killed.

After a short while, Stein confronted Noah. "You all work for the Kishin, correct?"

Noah chuckled. "That's right." He kept his smirk planted on his face to show Blood and the others that they were powerless as long as Misao was there in the center of things. "We serve him with no questions. In fact, he gave us the order to go out and find more human souls for him to devour, in order to regain his strength after being imprisoned for so long. Thanks to Misao here, we've collected more than enough to sustain him." A sinister chuckle came out after that explanation.

"You bastards!" Blood yelled, causing Misao to flinch. "You forced Misao to lure those innocent people to you so you could slaughter them for their souls!"

"That's right, pal."

"I've heard enough talking." Giriko stepped up next to Misao, just as Noah released her from his hold. The moment Noah backed away, Giriko transformed himself into a chainsaw and flew straight into Misao's hands. Normally, a chainsaw would be heavy. Especially if the weapon and meister aren't connected. But in this case, Giriko fused his soul energy with Misao's and allowed her to hold him with no complications. "I'm going to enjoy tearing you all apart! Misao, just a little tip: if you say a single word to them, I won't hesitate to kill you and personally rip that orb from your body." Misao stood still with Giriko in her hands, holding back any other tears that attempted to continue to fall. "Now, hurry up and attack them!" His voice merged with the humming his blades made as they spun around and around.

"Misao, you don't have to so this!" Blood yelled to her.

"They're not giving her a choice." Stein said.

"Brace yourselves, she's coming!" Kid stood with Blood and Stein as Misao charged at them.

Misao lifted Giriko over her shoulders and attacked them. The group dodged the attack just before impact.

"Blood, hurry up and transform!" Stein instructed as they landed. "Kid can't fight on his own. Do it now!"

Misao watched Blood transform into a spear and land in Stein's hands.

"What're you waiting for!?" Giriko exclaimed. "Hurry up and attack! I want to see their guts spill across the floor!"

She did what she was told and attacked once again. The chainsaw revved faster and faster as Misao drug the tip of it across the pavement while running towards Stein and prepared to attack. As she was inches away, she lifted Giriko and attempted to split Stein in two. He blocked at the last minute with Blood. The blades spun and spun but made no dent on the handle. 'Blood's made out of old-fashioned material.' She thought as she continued to try and get at Stein. 'No matter how many times I attack, Blood will remain invincible.' She whipped Giriko around and around, still in control of the momentum of the weapon. He laughed the more she slashed away. 'I'm sorry Blood.' Misao let a tear fall from the corner of her eye, knowing Blood would notice it.

"Stein, we have to think of something!" Blood exclaimed while feeling the pressure of Giriko's uncontrolled wavelength hitting him repeatedly. He looked to Misao to see her shed a tear while continuing to attack them. 'Misao…I'll get you out of this. I swear.' He lost his sense of location and only saw a glimpse of the memory when he and Misao first met. It made him smile and strengthened his spirit a little more as his mind returned to the battle. The only thing on his mind was getting back the warm comfort of him and Misao living peacefully together like they did before this hell broke loose.

"I agree!" Stein grunted, attacking and then quickly switching to defensive mode. "They're trying to wear us out." Stein leaned back to avoid being cut by the chainsaw. "Blood, I'm gonna do something you'll hate me for. But it's the only way I can stall them for now."

"What're you gonna do?" There was hesitation in his voice as Stein remained silent while launching himself in the air and kicking Misao in the back, causing her to lose her grip on the chainsaw and fall a few inches away from it. "Misao!" He watched her struggle to get back up.

"I did say you'd be angry with me." His tone was casual as he adjusted his glasses.

"What the hell, Stein!?"

"She's fine." He told her. "Look, at this point she's a threat. If we don't want to hurt her, the least we can do is slow her down. All we have to do is make sure that she can't reach the weapon and is unconscious. Once that happens, we create a diversion, kill these guys, rescue Misao and then return to DWMA. But this plan will only work if you as the weapon hold noting back against your former meister."

"She's not my former meister. She is and will always be my meister." Blood defended.

Stein exhaled while exposing a small grin.

"What the hell is taking you so long!?" Giriko yelled as Misao regained her balance. "Get off your ass and start killing!"

"Forgive me, Misao." Stein charged at Misao the moment she reached for the chainsaw and defended herself. She was pushed back but was able to stay on her feet.

"You're holding back!" Stein and Blood watched as Giriko increased his own wavelength, shocking Misao and causing her unimaginable pain.

Her scream practically tore Blood apart. "Stop it! Leave her alone!"

"If you don't like what you're seeing, then do something about it." Noah mocked, sitting back and watching the battles go on endlessly.

Stein ignored Noah as he rushed towards Misao just as her pain ended. "We have to separate them before Misao is put in anymore harm! Get ready Blood! Increase your power!" Blood did what he was told as Misao revved the chainsaw and launched herself into the air, lifting it above her head. 'Here she comes.' Stein waited for Misao to get in the right position until he could make his move against her. In his eyes, everything ran in slow motion. Even his breathing and heart beat slowed down. Finally the moment came and Stein quickly used Blood to block the attack. "Do it now, Blood!" Blood released his wavelength the moment Giriko came into contact with him. The energy blasted through the weapon and into Misao, causing her to let go of the chainsaw and fall farther away from it than before. Misao lost consciousness just before she hit the ground.

"Stein, throw me towards her now!" Blood demanded. The second Stein released him, Blood transformed back into human form. He was in direct course towards Misao, picking up speed. He held out his arms out in front of him just as he was a few feet away from Misao. His target was lost when Gopher quickly got in front of Misao and used his wings to fire endless rounds at Blood and knocked him down on the ground. He didn't take too much damage, but he was shaken up as he tried to stand up.

"You will not get to her." Gopher said, giving Blood a menacing glare.

"That's my line, you bastard!" Blood charged at him until Kid stepped in and fired shots at Gopher. "Kid."

"Didn't I say not to do anything stupid!? I'll rescue Misao! Go back and help Stein!"

"No, I'm staying here and helping you! I have my uses without my meister." With a swoop of his arm, Blood's hand transformed into a spear head the same size as it is when he's in his weapon form. "I vowed to protect her with my life. Nothing you say is gonna change my mind."

"Two against one does not matter." Gopher said in a low growl. "I do as Master Noah commands me. You will not get near her." He used his wings again and fired rapid feathers at Blood and Kid who rolled out of the way in opposite directions. Kid rolled onto one knee and fired shot after shot at Gopher while Blood rushed to the side to catch him by surprise. "You think you can slip past me!?"

Blood smiled as he jumped over Gopher and Misao and headed for Noah. "If you're so loyal to your master then come and save him!" He aimed his spear-head arm directly at Noah, who stood there with a calmed expression.

"You really think I'm not capable of defending myself?" Noah smirked while pulling out the Book of Eibon. He opened its pages and brought out a giant golem that blocked Blood's attack before knocking him back down. Noah let out a sinister laugh while watching Blood roll on the ground. "Pathetic! All of you! You can't even protect one girl! And you call yourselves meisters and weapons." He glared at every single one of them, seeing that they were low on stamina. "Gopher, grab Misao and let's get out of here!" Instantly, Noah pulled the golem back into the book and summoned the griffon and flew off just as Giriko jumped onto it and flew away with Gopher.

"Come back…Misao!" Blood yelled just before he fell unconscious.

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Hope you enjoyed ^_^ Please R&R


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